Fallon, Nevada’s deadly legacy
In a small town once plagued by childhood cancer, some families still search for answers.
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April Brune holds a stuffed dog that belonged to her son, Ryan, who died from brain cancer in 2009. The Brunes, along with several families who live or used to live in Fallon, Nevada, believe environmental factors there are at least partly to blame for numerous cases of childhood cancer.
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The former Brune home on Briggs Lane in Fallon, vacant between renters, and surrounded by tumbleweeds.
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Jeff and Debbie Braccini on their ranch in Fallon. Their son, Jeremy, survived leukemia. Jeff went on to delve into – and poke holes in – the studies surrounding the cancer cluster.
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A report from tests on the Braccini family found elevated levels of numerous metals and chemicals.
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A tungsten mill as seen through the swings at Northside Elementary School in Fallon, Nevada.
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Signs mark the Kinder Morgan jet fuel pipeline that travels through Fallon.
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Jack Allen refuels an F-16 fighter jet, left, at Fallon Naval Air Station. Jet fuel, which has carcinogenic components, is pumped through Fallon in a Kinder Morgan pipeline that many people believe has leaked.
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A Kennametal kiln refines tungsten ore 10 miles north of town.
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Gary Ridenour, a Fallon doctor, has teamed up with April Brune's attorney, Alan Levin, to uncover environmental causes of cancer. But they're at odds with town and state officials, who have accused them of spreading false information.
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Students trickle out of E.C. Best Elementary School in Fallon, which Ryan Brune had attended since preschool. Attorney Alan Levin has charged that a leak in the Kinder Morgan jet fuel pipeline that runs beside the school contributed to the boy's brain cancer.
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