The chemical can migrate from industrial sites into surrounding communities through the soil and water, and can even turn into a clear, odorless vapor that moves up into the homes above. The three attorneys spoke of a possible lawsuit similar to environmental suits that reaped massive settlements on behalf of clients.Many residents were relieved when Sprint switched off a cell phone tower at Weston Elementary School last month after parents were alarmed by cancer cases among students and school employees. Nearby cities are watching their parks as the virus grows.Subscribe for unlimited digital access to the news that matters to your community. “We don’t know what it does to children’s bodies.”Reyes said his family was supported by members of his church during the months of medical appointments and trips to a Kaiser Permanente facility in Roseville for Elijah’s treatment. Nestle says the work plan has been submitted and approved by the water board.Children with cancer: Ripon, California parents say cancers may be linked to chemical TCE in city’s water supply The environmental lawsuits, he said, force them to pay large sums in order to protect the public from additional polluting.“If we join forces then they have something they have to worry about,” Dunn told the audience.The city of Ripon says it is committed to providing safe drinking water to residents. Today, the 6-year-old Elijah, who is in remission, is one of five Weston students who’ve undergone cancer treatment in the past two years.Three school employees have been stricken with cancer, and a 4-year-old boy living a block away from the school was treated for a malignant tumor last year.“My instinct is (Elijah) got sick from the water,” Reyes said. “We don’t think it can be explained by genetic susceptibility.” Metayer said it’s known that exposure to pesticides and use of paints and organic solvents have been associated with higher risk of childhood cancer. Sprint has turned off a cell phone tower at a Ripon elementary school that parents suspect was the cause of cancer cases among students and teachers. State health officials suggested the cluster was a statistical quirk.The story quoted a school official stating that a student at Ripona School had died of leukemia and several other students had the same disease.Studies have been inconclusive about the health effects of radio frequency waves from cell towers. TCE was recently found in one of five city drinking water wells.The city of Ripon said TCE levels reached 90% of the EPA maximum allowed in drinking water last summer. The Record newspaper in Stockton reported in 1998 that the state health services had identified a leukemia cluster composed of six children in Ripon diagnosed with the disease over a 9-year period. “We are not alone. One would need to consider the timing of the diagnoses, the different types of cancer and possible environmental factors.While cancer clusters that get attention might involve one type of cancer and a search for a single cause, the Ripon diagnoses have included two kids with brain cancer, one case each of kidney and liver cancer, leukemia and a rare tumor in connective tissue. The 2006 order cited residual concentrations of TCE as high as 7,800 micrograms per liter in the shallow groundwater, some 1,500 times above the maximum allowed by safe drinking water standards.Nothing like those levels has been found in city wells, which are supposed to meet a standard of less than 5 micrograms per liter for TCE.The state order said other volatile organic compounds had been detected in the groundwater, including 1,2-dichlorethene and vinyl chloride.The city and Nestle have used filters and pumping strategies to keep the TCE from contaminating city wells.