FRESNO, Calif.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is fining the West's largest hazardous waste dump more than $300,000 for alleged improper disposal of cancer-causing chemicals.
Residents near the Kettleman Hills dump in Central California previously expressed concerns that it was linked to a high rate of birth defects among children in the area, but state health officials say they have not identified a common cause of the problems.
EPA officials said Tuesday that Chemical Waste Management was being fined because the dump failed to clean up soil tainted with PCBs. The facility is one of just 10 dumps nationwide that handles polychlorinated biphenyls, a now-banned transformer fluid.
The landfill is near Kettleman City, an impoverished San Joaquin Valley farm town where 11 cases of cleft palates and other birth defects have been reported since 2007.
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