"FRESNO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday a new study by the largest toxic waste dump in the West showed its level of cancer-causing chemicals was too low to harm the health of a nearby community where an unusually high number of babies have been born with serious birth defects.

For years, families who live downwind from the sprawling Kettleman Hills landfill in Central California have been concerned that PCB contamination was contributing to a rash of cleft palates and other birth abnormalities.

Chemical Waste Management Inc. announced the results of its long-awaited study showing instead that the level of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, surrounding the dump was similar to contamination found in rural areas across the country, even in the remote wilderness."

Garance Burke reports for the Associated Press January 13, 2011. [2]