"Wineries and vineyards dot the landscape of Livermore with brand new homes and schools popping up right next to them. It’s this picturesque atmosphere that drew Paola Reyes to the East Bay town. 'We thought, ‘this is Livermore. This is wine country.’ Everybody wants to live next to a vineyard,' Reyes said.

The beauty, however, soon became overshadowed by her family’s illnesses, and nobody knew why it was happening. 'Things were at a breaking point with my family,' Reyes said. 'My son’s health, especially, to the point where he couldn’t go to school, and I looked at the vineyard and I said, 'Oh my God, maybe it’s the vineyard. They must be spraying something at that vineyard.''

Reyes started researching. She requested records from Alameda County, which showed pesticides were being sprayed at the vineyard next to her home. 'The first thing I thought when I found this information was, ‘This charter school is going to open in a few months and I need to inform the principal,’' Reyes said."

Jenna Susko, Liza Meak, Jeremy Carroll, and Scott Pham report for NBC Bay Area November 23, 2014. [2]