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San Mateo County Times January 20, 2000  See Also San Mateo County Times, 1/27/00 San Mateo County Times, 1/26/00 San Mateo County Times, 1/5/00 San Mateo County Times, 12/14/99 For more information, contact:
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Residents show genetic defect signs from contaminated soil From Wire Reports Daly City -- Residents of a housing project built on contaminated soil show an "abnormal" number of genetic defects, according to a federal study. Medical studies have shown that defects of this sort can make people more prone to cancer and other illnesses. The analysis doesn't directly link the defective genes to the many ailments of residents at Midway Village in Daly City. But it has helped reopen a decade-old dispute about whether authorities have appropriately handled the cleanup there. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is urging state regulators to retest the project for cancer-causing agents. The housing was built next to a Superfund site in 1976. Keith Takata, a director of Superfunds for the EPA, said the state failed to retest soil samples after a cleanup effort more than six years ago. "We're recommending a much more intense (soil) sampling effort," he said. "The state did some, but it doesn't appear that they completed what they set out to do." The federal study was undertaken after a decade of prodding by residents, who have long believed that the soil, air and water in their neighborhood are spawning a host of diseases, ranging from mysterious rashes and nosebleeds to infertility, memory loss and cancer. State regulators and officials at PG&E, which owns the land, have long said that living at the site poses no health risks. "The work we've done out there has not indicated to us that residents need to be relocated," said Ron Baker, spokesman for the state Environmental Protection Agency's Department of Toxic Substances Control, which has spearheaded the Midway Village cleanup. "We have not found any evidence to indicate that anyone's health has been affected in any way."
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