We like to believe that here in the U.S. we are protected. We like to believe that the institutions that have been put in place to protect us run like well-oiled machines, precisely according to plan. But oftentimes, it’s the rigidity of these bureaucratic systems—and the failure to see beyond the narrow box of a singular job description—that can be most dangerous.
In the small town of Frederick, Md., just outside of Washington, D.C., a man named Randy White lost both his wife, Debra, and his 28-year-old daughter, Kristen, herself a mother of two, to cancer. Many households in his neighborhood have a similar story. According to the Kirsten Renee Foundation, there are now 1,300 documented cancer victims living within a one-mile radius.
Conducting investigative research for our new TV show ASPIREist, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr. and producer Spencer Wilking traveled to Frederick to find out more.