No Link Found in Deaths, Dumping of Chemicals

There is no evidence to support allegations that toxic chemicals dumped at a Santa Clarita Valley defense plant led to five cancer deaths in a family that lived nearby, state health officials said Tuesday.

In a new study, the state Department of Health Services said the deaths, which occurred between 1983 and 1989, may never be explained, but suggested that a genetic defect could have contributed to four of the deaths.

The study examined the health history of the family of Diane and Robert Hercules, who moved to Sand Canyon from Culver City in 1979. The family lived less than a mile away from Space Ordnance Systems, an explosives maker convicted in 1986 of illegally dumping and storing hazardous chemicals.