Jackson to Put Campaign Focus on Cancer Cluster Town

McFARLAND, Calif.--In this farming community 20 miles from Bakersfield, parents try hard to keep their children from drinking the water. They think it carries death.

So far, eight McFarland children have died of cancer and 22 others have been diagnosed with several different kinds of cancer, with most of the cases occurring within a few blocks of each other in a mostly Latino neighborhood. Neighborhood residents, mostly farm workers whose homes are built on what were once cotton fields, believe the so-called cancer cluster is caused by pesticides in the water.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson apparently believes so too. Although he is in the midst of his campaign for California’s June 7 presidential primary, Jackson has decided to devote an unusual amount of time on this one town of 6,200 residents. In effect, he is making it the focus of his campaign in an effort to draw attention to McFarland and to three other communities that have reported cancer clusters--nearby Delano, Rosamond in Kern County and Fowler in Fresno County.

Plans for March

Jackson, who spent the night here Wednesday talking with parents of victims and elected officials about the problem, is planning a march through the city next Saturday. He is trying to enlist the support of elected officials, environmentalists and celebrities to highlight the problem, which has plagued McFarland since 1982.

During Jackson’s overnight stay here with Ernesto and Tina Bravo, whose child died from cancer, residents complained that local and state officials have abandoned them. They said they have complained about the water and how their children are getting sick and dying, but have received little response. Health officials have said that the cancer rate for children in McFarland is five times the normal level, but they do not know the cause.

In many ways, Jackson said, McFarland is a metaphor for his campaign, and that is why he has chosen to make it a rallying point.

Concern Over Food

“You have the combination of a number of issues all in what appears to be one issue,” he said in an interview Thursday aboard his plane. “One, you have the question of the environment. People in New York and Washington, D.C., are eating the food that comes from these fields while the people who pick the food are dying. . . . Everybody who eats must be concerned about cancer clusters from the food basket.

“Then there is a question of fair representation. While a third of the population of McFarland is Hispanic, there is only one Hispanic elected official. That’s very suggestive. Only 7% of the Hispanic population is registered to vote. That suggests that they have been disenfranchised to the point of being discouraged. . . . These are people who have been abandoned.”

The pesticide DBCP (dibromochloropropane), which laboratory tests have linked to cancer, has been found in well water in McFarland. A soil fumigant, DBCP was banned from agricultural use a decade ago, but it remains for long periods in the soil and has been detected in more than 2,000 wells throughout California.

While health officials have said they do not believe that is the problem, McFarland residents contend that the fumigants have been seeping into wells and are affecting their children.

‘We’re All Afraid’

“Nobody drinks the water,” said Lucy Nadal, a tutor at a school in McFarland. “Not if you can help it. We’re all afraid. We’re afraid for our children. Our children are afraid.”

Nadal’s daughter, 12, was best friends with Mario Bravo, 14, who died Thanksgiving Day of cancer.

“He was there, and then one day he was gone,” she said. “I’m scared that it might happen to me.”

Dan Shepherd, 40, of Fowler, stood nearby, his blond 8-year-old daughter, Jennifer, hugging her father’s leg. She and four other children in the town of 2,000 were diagnosed with leukemia in another “cluster.” Her case is in remission, her father said; the other four children have died.

Jackson is suggesting, as have some McFarland officials, that a health clinic be built in the community and that a congressional investigation be made.

“One of the problems now is that every time a child has any kind of ache, the parents are worried that it might be cancerous,” he said. “If they dismiss it as non-cancerous, there’s a chance that they may miss out on early detection. But if they go to the doctor for every pain and ache, it’s too expensive.”

Questionable Strategy

Jackson’s emphasis on McFarland is a questionable strategy. He trails far behind Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis in statewide polls and has recently been making fewer campaign stops and drawing smaller crowds.

“You can’t separate your strategy from your principal commitment to serve people,” he said. “If the campaign comes and goes, and you only get votes for the candidate without getting help for the people, that’s a worthless campaign. . . .

“For me, it’s the politics of moral principle. The other extreme is to go all over the state and make footprints but not make penetration. We want to make a difference.”