Testing Begins, LARMAC Resolutions Approved, and New Research Doors Open
This was an important week for Ladera Health Watch and for the residents who have been asking for answers.
In just a few months, this work has moved from residents raising concerns to actual testing, approved LARMAC landscape-management resolutions, and new research opportunities with major institutions.
Here is where things stand.
CSUF BEGAN PRELIMINARY TESTING IN LADERA
On Sunday, Cal State Fullerton researchers began preliminary environmental testing in Ladera Ranch.
This is an important first step toward gathering actual data from our community. CSUF’s work is focused on environmental and community-health questions, including soil and water concerns, and will help inform what additional testing may be needed.
We are grateful to the CSUF team for taking these concerns seriously and beginning this work.
LARMAC APPROVED LANDSCAPE-MANAGEMENT RESOLUTIONS
A little over two months ago, residents showed up at a LARMAC Board meeting asking for reduced pesticide use and more transparency. At that point, the only concrete next step was the creation of a resident advisory committee.
None of us knew how much progress would be possible, or how quickly.
This week, the LARMAC Board approved five landscape-management resolutions presented by LARMAC, including a defined path toward a comprehensive Organic Land Management Plan to be brought back for Board consideration by the end of 2026.
The approved actions include expanded areas where routine synthetic pesticide use will not be allowed, continued suspension of certain synthetic herbicides and plant-growth regulators while alternatives are evaluated, slope mapping, review of insecticide and rodenticide use, and improvements to pesticide notification and communication.
This is not the finish line. But it is real progress.
LHW SUBMITTED COMMENTS TO DPR/SPARC
Ladera Health Watch also submitted comments to DPR’s Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap / SPARC process.
This was the first time SPARC opened this process for public comment, and we felt it was important that Ladera be included as a real-world example of how pesticides are used in HOA-managed residential communities.
Our comments asked DPR to look closely at how products are used in places like Ladera: near homes, sidewalks, parks, fields, paseos, schools, slopes, waterways, storm drains, and other common areas where families, children, and pets live and play.
We also asked DPR to consider cumulative exposure, runoff, recycled-water pathways, notice, signage, buffers, restrictions, and safer alternatives when evaluating pesticides and pesticide policy.
This matters because Ladera is not just one community asking for change. It is an example of a much larger gap in pesticide transparency and oversight for HOA-managed common areas.
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE UPDATE
We also received a response from the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Sharon Savage, Clinical Director of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and Director of the Clinical Genetics Branch, responded to Ladera Health Watch and indicated that Ewing sarcoma families may be eligible for NCI’s Cancer-prone Families Study.
This study may involve questionnaires, family history, medical records, blood and/or saliva samples, and potentially tumor specimens.
This is not the same thing as a Ladera cancer-cluster investigation, and it does not replace the California Cancer Registry review or environmental testing. But it may be an important research pathway for Ewing sarcoma families who want to understand whether their child’s case can contribute to a broader rare-cancer and genetics study.
We are asking NCI for a virtual meeting so families can hear directly from the study team about eligibility, consent, privacy, tumor specimens, and what the study can and cannot answer.
Each research lane answers a different question:
CSUF is helping with environmental and community-health testing.
CDPH / California Cancer Registry is reviewing cancer incidence data.
USC is helping examine pediatric cancer and Ewing sarcoma research questions.
NCI may be able to help families through a rare-cancer, genetics, medical-records, and tumor-specimen study.
Together, these pieces are beginning to create the more serious, coordinated research effort families have been asking for.
WHERE THINGS STAND
We still do not know what caused the cancers reported by families in Ladera Ranch.
But this week showed that the work is moving.
Environmental testing has begun.
LARMAC approved meaningful landscape-management resolutions.
LHW submitted state pesticide-policy comments.
NCI opened a possible research pathway for Ewing sarcoma families.
There is still a lot ahead, but we are pleased with how far we’ve come since we first asked the California Cancer Registry to run an analysis in May.
Please continue to fill out the health form, sign and share the petition, send records/photos, volunteer if you are able, and keep showing up.
Thank you to everyone who has helped move this forward.
Sincerely,
Jackie French Ladera Health Watch
