Ya Basta! Enough is Enough! by Linda Robles, founder of The Envrionmental Justice Task Force
Introduction
My name is Linda Robles, I was born in the 1960s, and have lived my entire life in Tucson, Arizona. Around the early 1960s, my parents relocated from Barrio Hollywood, a Westside neighborhood to La Doce on Tucson Southside, near the Tucson International Airport, during the time when many Mexican American Peoples were being pushed out of the City of Tucson Westside area to the Tucson Southside area for the purpose of urban developments in Downtown Tucson. The Tucson South Side was and continues to be inhabited by predominant Mexican-American, and working class populations.
Mysterious Illnesses Strike the Robles Household
Besides all the airplane noise flying over our house, we were really excited about moving into a new neighborhood. Growing up in the Tucson Southside home I noticed mysterious illnesses began to strike our household. First my parents, later my siblings, then me and even our dog began to get sick with unusual illnesses such as liver disease, kidney, thyroid, bone disease, and pancreatic problems. The family dog began to experience epileptic attacks and had to be put to sleep. We were heartbroken. I also noticed that our neighbor’s dad also got sick with liver problems like my dad, and one of their daughters also began experiencing epileptic attacks like our dog.
The home had just been built in the 1950s and had only one occupant, who lived in the home before us, but had to move because of a job transfer. No one could imagine that there was anything in the house that was causing all these health problems.
Then when I began to give birth to three of my older children, they were born with birth defects including ear, nose and throat problems, nasal deformity, cleft palate and bone age delay. I thought it was just me. Then I got married into a new family and had five more children, who were all born healthy.
Tucson Discovers TCE Drinking Water Contamination On Tucson Southside
In 1981 Tucson discovered it had been supplying poisoned water to hundreds of thousands of Tucson Southside residents. TCE and other dangerous hazardous chemicals later identified coming from the Tucson International Airport and military defense installations on Tucson Southside. The contamination caused mass illness and cancer deaths in La Doce neighborhoods.
Linda Moves Her Family Away From The TCE Contaminated Area
When I first heard about it, in the 1980s, I made a decision to move my children away from the problem into a newly developed subdivision at Midvale Park, just about 3 miles northwest of La Doce. But when we moved to what we thought was a better neighborhood in Midvale Park, we did not know danger had followed us, TCE- a toxic solvent that is linked to causing cancer and birth defects, had spread from the military base into our water, soil, and air. TCE does not respect the boundaries of fences or zip codes, it travels in plumes underground, in water and vapor, and lingers for decades in our neighborhoods.
Mysterious Illness and Death Strike Lindas Household
Unfortunately, after about three years, our daughter Tianna got very sick, and was later diagnosed with SLE lupus, and kidney nephritis. Sadly Tianna died from kidney failure in 2007, leaving her 5 year old baby girl behind. Our family was devastated by it and I was shocked. A year after Tiannas passing, my daughter Clara also became very ill and was later diagnosed with the same health problems, Currently Clara is in her end stages of kidney disease and is undergoing a kidney transplant process. My son JoJo, became very ill and was later diagnosed with male lupus. He was placed on opiods for the pain, but now struggles with mental health disorder and drug addiction due to the pain meds. He has been in and out of rehabs and continues to strive in the struggle. Then one of my daughters gave birth to a child with a cleft lip, and her baby girl, only two years old, became very ill and was later diagnosed with kidney nephritis and many of our neighbors were also dealing with very similar illnesses and deaths.
The Discovery of PFAS in Tucson’s Drinking Water
Then 40 years after TCE was discovered in our drinking water on Tucson Southside, Tucson discovered it had been supplying PFAS tainted water to our neighborhood for decades before EPA acted. PFAS and other unregulated contaminants 1,4-dioxane came from the very same military defense installations and aircraft industries on Tucson Southside.
Over 600,000 people, 75% Hispanic, majority minority, were forced to drink, bathe, and cook from that dirty water. The community exposure risk has been denied, responsibility dismissed, and blurred accountability. We have seen increased incidence of cancer, birth defects, and auto-immune disease for far too long.
The Results
Generations of residents from this predominant Hispanic neighborhood drak the water from contaminated city and private wells. Exposure to all these carcinogens (PFOA, PFOS, AFFF) is associated with many serious illnesses like testicular cancer, kidney cancer, high cholesterol, and suppression of vaccine response effectiveness.
Our parents, we, our children and now our grandchildren have come down with illnesses. This contamination and the resulting illnesses and deaths were not “an act of God” but resulted from careless and criminal industrial practices, lax government oversight, weak regulations, poor enforcement and callous indifference to human suffering because of environmental racism. At the present no attention has been paid to the victims of the contamination. Instead, the impact of the contamination on the people who drank, cooked, bathed in the water has been ignored, minimized, neglected, or denied.
We do not trust assurances by government agencies that the water is safe to drink as they continue to deny our injuries. We live in fear of the next cancer, or lupus for one of us. The injuries to us, to our children, to our families, have been ignored by all levels of federal, state, and local municipal officials for far too long. No Child should have to suffer or die because our government says it’s ok to drink low doses of cancer causing chemical mixtures in your water… Yet when you offer them a glass of water, they will not drink it.
Linda Establishes The Environmental Justice Task Force
The death of my daughter and the discovery of PFAS led me to establish the Environmental Justice Task Force, to push for PFAS drinking water regulations, hold corporate polluters and governmental officials accountable for the damages they caused to us and to our homes, and to make them pay for the cleanup. Since then, I have joined national EJ leaders including the National PFAS Contamination Coalition and The Association for Advancing Participatory Science, to advocate for clean air, and water. In 2022, we won EPA ‘s first time ever primary drinking water regulations for six PFAS, but the current Trump EPA has challenged the rule.
Linda Travels to Greensboro, NC to Join EJ leaders at the People Hearing 2025.
On June 10-11, 2025, I joined hundreds of EJ leaders in Greensboro North Carolina, at the Peoples Hearing, especially to respond to the PFAS health crisis in our community. The NC Peoples Hearing was a very unique experience for me because it focused on community, action, and policy.
It brought together a large diverse group of communities that are directly impacted by environmental injustice, labor rights, and climate change, as well as solutions moving forward. The event gave me an opportunity to meet some of the most inspiring people who are also in the struggle. It was a game changer for me and I asked to bring it to Tucson.
Second Peoples Hearing in Tucson, Arizona
On September 4-5th 2025, me and other of our community partners including Dr. Paloma Beamer, UA College of Public Health, Nate, Sofia, Tina, Mar, hosted the AZ Peoples Hearing. Most of all I enjoyed working so closely with Maria and her team. I am thankful for PEJAC’s committed efforts to continue the work, even when it’s under attack.
It brought people from all across our region, including, Mayor Regina Romero, Congresswomen Adelita Grijalva, and Mariachi, Las Aguilitas de Davis, Kirsten Engle, Office of Attorney General, Kris Mayes, County Supervisor, Andres Cano, Jobs For Justice, Cynhtia Diaz, Tribal Navajo, Yaqui, and Tohono O’odham Tribes, successful opponents of Project Blue Data Centers, including, Lee Ziesche, and Chantelle Khambholija, with No Desert Data Center & Tucson DSA.
I was inspired by testimonies of local Tucson Southside members affected by historical water poisoning and environmental racism. And so many other stuff like climate heat related, and heat deaths, exposure to pesticides, new mining coming in for critical minerals and the proposed aluminum recycling plant in Benson, AZ.
With gratitude, I now I will pass it to the third People’s Hearing in Pittsburgh.
Thank you.
Linda Robles
