It’s an area considered one of America’s safest.
But that notion has been rocked for a rising number of Ladera Ranch parents, watching at least a half dozen local kids battling rare cancers, with a few dying earlier this year.
Since the cases grew in recent years, parents in this affluent community in the midst of South Orange County have increasingly been pressing for answers, mainly focusing on the pesticides and herbicides sprayed by landscapers working for their local homeowner association.
In this unincorporated area of about 25,000 residents, most of that spraying is managed by a private company that staffs the Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corporation or Larmac.
These rare cancers in kids also have people asking hard questions about the health of the area’s soil given its history as a working cattle ranch along with impacts of large power lines running overhead and nearby bombing heard from Camp Pendleton.
Last week, about 400 people packed into the local middle school to address the issue in front of the Ladera Civic Council, a local nonprofit formed in 2009 to give local residents a broader voice on local issues — founded following similar neighborhood protests around a proposed electrical plant for Ladera that eventually didn’t go through.
Organizers said last week was the largest turnout ever to one of the civic council meetings, which had to be relocated to a neighborhood middle school from its usual meeting place at the local clubhouse.
“The reason we are here today is heartbreaking,” said Ladera Civic Council Vice Chair John Gresko, while also telling residents, “something good is going to come out of this,” pointing to the rare, bipartisan combination of elected officials standing in the same room, united around the same goal of tackling toxics in neighborhoods.
“How often does this happen in America?” Gresko said.
Amidst a slew of elected officials and television cameras, parents went national with their concerns about toxins in their neighborhoods.
In recent years, at least a half dozen children have been diagnosed with a rare cancer called Ewing sarcoma.
This past January, 23-year old Lily Dalton lost her battle with the disease, after spending years in Ladera with her boyfriend who grew up in the area.
Another local, 17-year old Brody Matteson, died this past March from complications of the rare cancer.
At the meeting, Lily’s father, Brian wore a t-shirt with her face on it and called for more investigation into the environmental factors – like pesticides and herbicides – that could have contributed to his daughter’s untimely death.
“I don’t want another father standing where I stand today,” Dalton said, adding “follow the evidence wherever it leads. Every answer we find in this investigation can save lives. Don’t let Lilly’s story end with her.”
In addition, several residents said their dogs also had been affected, with one person saying as many as 35 dogs had been diagnosed with strange cancers.
Several moms at the town hall focused their frustration on the local HOA over a lack of response, with a few even saying they had been served with cease-and-desist orders for voicing their concerns about the toxics used to battle pests and weeds on slopes, sporting fields and public areas.
“There is a lack of transparency that is very problematic,” said resident and attorney Jackie French who has worked with families seeking answers, noting she had records of 19 different spraying products used in the local area this past June.
Yet French noted that records tracking amounts weren’t properly filled out – a similar pattern confronted by Creek Team activists when looking into County of Orange practices along two South County creeks.
[Read: OC Residents Wrestle With Failed Promises To Restrict Chemical Herbicides]
She suggested government agencies and others look into the incentive programs used by toxic manufacturers to encourage their use in the landscaping industry.
While French has said it’s unclear what’s caused the cancers in local kids, she said parents’ investigation raised lots of questions about the use of chemicals in local landscaping.
She also noted that she keeps being contacted by many other people who are facing similar health threats and looking for answers.
“This is not our problem alone,” she said.
In an unprecedented response to local environmental concerns, tons of government machinery was on display at the middle school this past week.
The local HOA management company, Larmac, didn’t show up to the public meeting but did announce that same day a 60-day pause on spraying local landscaping with weed killers.
They also announced an advisory committee to study shifting their landscaping efforts toward more organic approaches and said it would cooperate with all government investigations.
Larmac officials didn’t respond to an email and call seeking comment.
But In a statement shared with People Magazine, the company expressed compassion for the affected families but also stressed that “at this time, we are not aware of any determination by those agencies identifying a specific environmental cause or linking the Association’s landscape management practices to these illnesses.”
The Larmac announcement on a pause on spraying and establishment of an advisory group came on the heels of U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli formally calling on the federal Environmental Projection Agency to look into potential triggers for the cancer cases from Ladera Ranch.
In a rare bipartisan display, local Democratic Congressman Mike Levin also called on the EPA to investigate.
At last week’s townhall, Republican State Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez led off the presentations by calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to convene a multi-agency response, including soil testing and a look at storm water, sentiment, air and herbicides in all areas where neighborhood kids spend time like open space and parks.
“I share everyone’s concern about what’s happening in our community,” Sanchez said, adding, “parents deserve answers.”
“One thing is clear: our community deserves answers not assumptions,” Sanchez said, noting that next steps should focus on establishing “regular public briefings and public dashboards.”
“Trust is built through transparency,” Sanchez said.
Yet that’s a big challenge when it comes to institutions like local government and HOAs.
Bethany Nelms, a key leader with the Creek Team that has been leading community efforts battling the County of Orange for more than a year to get those leaders to rethink herbicide usage in the San Juan and Trabuco creeks, relayed key lessons to parents from their experience – principally persistence and follow up.
[Read: Santana: Herbicide Use Near Doheny Beach Triggers State Probe]
Fighting against the county to wake up the bureaucracy from their usual course of business when it comes to toxics, Nelms noted “we know the work it takes.”
It’s a lot of reaching out to government agencies, pressing for documentation and realtime communication with agencies that often aren’t geared toward communication – especially when the potential of lawsuits arises.
“We need this community to be engaged like never before,” Nelms said, adding that she thinks people should not waste any time and err on the side of caution, moving toward a permanent ban on the use of toxics – which are probable carcinogens – to manage weeds.
A petition calling on the main HOA in Ladera Ranch to eliminate the use of pesticides has already gathered nearly 5,000 signatures.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley – often referred to as a de-facto mayor of Ladera because of the town’s unincorporated status – supported the idea of a public dashboard and told the public she’s been meeting with residents since last year when they reached out.
Foley said she’s asked the county public health department to research the issue and work with the state’s cancer registry, although Foley told residents that the state agency indicated to her that they found no pattern locally, based on a five-year old study, adding that she has asked the county Health Care Agency to seek an updated investigation.
She also added she has asked the local Agricultural Commissioner – who oversees local pesticide applications for the state – to also look into Ladera.
“It’s unhealthy to have this kind of pesticide use in our community,” Foley said, adding that she’s been working to stop the use of pesticides as a local elected official for 20 years from her time as a PTA mom, on the Costa Mesa school board, city council and as mayor before becoming a county supervisor – a post she is seeking re-election to this year, running as a Democrat.
Foley told the crowd the County of Orange had paused pesticide spraying altogether.
Yet that seems unclear.
While Foley on her own did announce a pause in May, she subsequently lost a motion she offered last month during the county supervisor’s regular meeting to phase out herbicide use in all Orange County waterways – voted down by her colleagues, two Republicans and one Democrat.
Foley’s efforts did eventually trigger a motion by her Republican colleague – who voted against the countywide ban – to instead authorize a year-long pause on herbicides along the San Juan and Trabuco Creeks.
[Read: OC Supervisors Phase Out Herbicides in San Juan and Trabuco Creeks Near Doheny State Beach]
I reached out for clarification but Foley did not respond. A county spokeswoman said officials could not answer the question by publication deadline on Monday.
Republican Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, who is running against Foley for county supervisor in this November’s general election, told gathered residents she was committed and bolstered by bipartisan support.
Dixon said legislative support is “aligned” in both the state assembly and senate around the aim of getting something done on the issue in Sacramento once legislators return the first week of August.
She wasn’t specific about what kind of legislation would be considered but credited Ladera parents for getting officials at the highest levels of government focused on the issue, adding, “We are just beginning.”
Regardless of what may be triggering local cancers, there is increasing opposition to pesticide and herbicide spraying – something that Irvine’s former mayor Christina Shea says is on target, advising Ladera residents at the town hall to look toward Irvine’s organic approach to pest management.
Shea – herself a cancer survivor who was keen to act when residents raised the issue – said more than 160 cities have taken up Irvine’s organic pest management program.
“You don’t have to wait for studies to get back,” Shea told residents. “These pesticides are so dangerous. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.”
The stakes are big, Shea warned.
“This is national,” she said, “there’s so many families and children that are suffering.”