Dr. Gregory S. Rodriguez oral history project for trichloroethylene (TCE) collection
Newspaper clipping that highlighted the TCE contamination in Tucson, which many residents were unaware of until members of southwest Tucson unexpectedly began getting sick.
Collection area: Arizona and Southwest
Collection dates: 1970-2008 bulk 2000-2002
Series I of the collection includes interview transcripts. Students enrolled in Dr. Gregory S. Rodriguez and Dr. Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith's Mexican American Studies courses undertook an oral history project in which they interviewed individuals affected by TCE contamination in Tucson's southside. The interviews were conducted in the early 2000s. Interviews were conducted with community members, city officials, government officials, and others. Series II includes additional research files collected by course instructors and students related to the TCE contamination.
The Dr. Gregory S. Rodriguez oral history project for trichloroethylene (TCE) collection includes student interviews with community members and other notable figures who discussed or were affected by the trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination in Tucson water. The contamination occurred in the 1980s on the southside of Tucson and residents were drinking contaminated drinking water, which was laced with TCE, a solvent best known for cleaning airplanes. Alleged contamination came from water runoff that entered arroyos adjacent to the Tucson Airport Authority. Additionally, TCE had been dumped throughout the 1950s and nine wells were contaminated and needed permanent closure. When individuals in the community began getting sick from the contamination, including several cancer cases, they began asking questions. These questions, research studies, and scientific reports would lead to a lengthy legal lawsuit. Nearly 40 years later, the Arizona government is fast-tracking efforts to clean up the groundwater contamination.
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