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Midway Village Residents Hold Candlelight Vigil and Memorial to Pray for Victims of Cancer and Other Illnesses in their Toxic-Contaminated Community Residents Call on Government Agencies to Answer their Pleas for Relocation and Health Care: Contact
Residents of Midway Village joined other cancer survivors and people living in other toxic-contaminated communities in the "Cancer Industry Tour". |
Daly City, California Plagued by startling rates of cancer and other illnesses, residents of the toxic-contaminated Midway Village housing project in Daly City gathered together at a candlelight vigil and memorial on Monday evening, October 26, 1998 at 7 p.m.. Midway Village is a low-income housing project located in Daly City, between the Cow Palace and Highway 101, adjacent to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Marin Service Center site. Midway Village is operated by the San Mateo County Housing Authority. The 150 units are occupied by 1200 people, primarily people of color. Midway Village and Bayshore Park are contaminated with toxic substances, notably polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs), a class of compounds of which many are known carcinogens. Midway Village was built on land heavily contaminated with toxic chemicals from the neighboring PG&E site. Residents were never warned of the contamination when they moved into Midway Village. Exposure to contaminated soils was unrestricted for many years. Children played in the toxic soil and residents grew vegetables for home consumption. Residents began complaining of cancers, tumors, body rashes and sores, bloody noses, and respiratory problems, and many have passed away from these illnesses. State and Federal agencies are ignoring pleas of residents to be relocated. Residents are also demanding health care and compensation for their illnesses. |