A mother's quest for answers about her daughter's rare leukemia diagnosis has led her to question the safety of her community, uncovering a pattern of childhood cancers she believes is linked to a former rocket testing site. The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), a 2,849-acre site located about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles, was used for rocket and nuclear testing from the 1940s until the early 2000s. The site is currently owned by Boeing Co, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
In January 2014, Gracie, then four years old, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia called Ph+ALL. Her treatment required ten times the average amount of chemotherapy for childhood leukemia. The rarity of her diagnosis initially made it difficult for doctors to provide survival odds. It was during her treatment at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles that her mother noticed a surprising number of other children from her immediate vicinity were also being treated for cancer.
Gracie's mother encountered neighbors whose children were battling various forms of cancer, all living within a few miles of her home. One neighbor's daughter, Bailey, died of leukemia less than a year after diagnosis. Another, Hazel, died after a three-time battle with Neuroblastoma. This recurring proximity led Gracie's mother and other parents to question if these were mere coincidences.
The potential link to the SSFL became apparent in the fall of 2015 when Gracie's mother attended a public hearing about the site. She learned that the facility had a history of rocket fuel burning, chemical contamination of soil and water, and a partial nuclear meltdown that released radioactive fission gases. A 2007 federal study had already indicated a higher incidence of cancer within two miles of the site, noting environmental contamination.
Despite reassurances from government agencies at the hearing, Gracie's mother felt the information provided was based on hypotheticals rather than concrete data. Her activism gained momentum with the support of Denise Duffield of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles, and the late Dan Hirsch of the Committee to Bridge the Gap.
In 2017, Gracie's cancer returned. This time, doctors were hesitant to offer survival odds due to the slim chances. The experience was particularly harrowing as many of the children Gracie had befriended in the hospital had since passed away. The family, however, remained hopeful, a trait Gracie's mother noted was common among survivors.
The Woolsey Fire in 2018 burned a portion of the SSFL, leading to concerns about the further spread of contamination. An independent study later found radionuclides from the SSFL ash nine miles away from the site. Some of these radioactive elements, such as plutonium 239, have a half-life of 24,000 years.
Gracie's mother, along with Jeni Knack, founded Parents Against Santa Susana Field Lab to advocate for comprehensive cleanup. Despite a 2007 cleanup agreement between Boeing, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, full cleanup has not commenced. Legislation to set rigorous cleanup standards was overturned.
Boeing's current plans to develop a portion of the site into a park have drawn criticism. The company argues that a conservation easement signed in 2017, which it billed as environmental preservation, legally prohibits extensive pollution removal. Activists, however, contend that this easement is being used as a loophole to avoid a thorough cleanup, with Boeing suggesting a