Families in Ladera Ranch, California, have experienced a nightmare that they believe could involve toxic chemicals from pesticides.
Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, wants the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the matter and determine whether environmental factors explain why so many children in that community have developed rare forms of cancer.
“There has been an unusual cluster of pediatric cancers in the Ladera Ranch community,” Essayli wrote Thursday on the social media platform X.
Essayli asked that the EPA “conduct an appropriate investigation into whether there are any environmental causes, and whether any federal environmental laws are implicated.”
A letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accompanied the post.
“My office has been made aware of recent reports of multiple pediatric Ewing sarcoma cases within the Ladera Ranch community,” Essayli wrote.
“Residents are raising concerns about a potential cancer cluster and whether environmental factors may warrant further evaluation. At least six children have been diagnosed with this rare bone and soft-tissue cancer, with one 17-year-old, Brody Matteson, dying after complications during treatment.”
Hellbound and Down 