At first I thought my family just had really, really bad luck. 

My mom had a rare brain tumor; I have a rare autoimmune disease; my daughter had an exceptionally rare form of leukemia; and my son has Celiac disease.

Then I heard stories where people learned everyone on their street had cancer near my home. I know one family where two of their children died from different types of cancer. I know families whose children were born with birth defects. Teenagers with breast cancer. Story after story of people with thyroid issues or autoimmune diseases. The list goes on. It's not just my family suffering. It's my whole community.

We live near one of California's most toxic sites and the site of one of America's worst nuclear meltdowns, the Santa Susana Field Lab, near Los Angeles. But it's not just our community that's hurting.

Because of the recent Reuter's article, "A US public health agency got it wrong. Here’s the toll of its errors," people are now realizing this is a national problem. 

"The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was created to protect the public by assessing health risks at America’s most polluted sites," the article states. "Reuters found at least 20 instances in which the agency dismissed health concerns that other government research or the ATSDR itself later identified as hazards."

I don't think the problem limited to just the ATSDR. There is a culture in the American government to cover-up, minimize, and deny the harm being caused by toxic and/or radioactive waste in the environment. It's the same tragic story on repeat and it'll continue to happen until America takes responsibility and begins to heal the land with complete cleanups, and begins to protect its people instead of protecting polluters. 

Do you know anyone who lives in the areas studied by Reuters? If so, forward this update to them so they can learn more about what's being done in their community. 

• Jacksonville, NC
• Cohoes, NY
• Ventura County, CA