By Olivia Biggs and Callaghan Mitchell, South Texas Project
LAREDO, Texas – The Nevares family lives in a lively home, with kittens milling about and happiness in the air. It’s a feeling the family of four has fought for for many years, following the devastating diagnosis of leukemia for their youngest son back in 2018.
Not far from them lives Xavier Ortiz, a hardworking man who wants to provide for his family, hindered by an aggressive cancer.
What these two families share is a proximity to Midwest Sterilization Corporation in north Laredo, a medical equipment sterilization facility that uses ethylene oxide, a carcinogen, in its process. For the Nevares family and the Ortiz family, their cancer fights took on a different light once they learned about the nearby plant that releases cancer-causing emissions. They wonder if the illnesses were caused by emissions from the factory and worry about how air contamination may harm others.
Twelve year-old Juan Jose, who goes by JJ, fought after his acute lymphocytic leukemia diagnosis in 2018, when he was six years old. He beat the disease, but his family still lives just a few miles from the Midwest plant.
Xavier Ortiz, who has lived near the Midwest Sterilization plant for more than 12 years, was diagnosed in September of 2024 with lymphoma.
JJ’s mother, Nidia Nevares, remembers the original checkup as a “minor nuisance,” having to travel to San Antonio for tests to be done and news to get back. This was eight years ago, when JJ was in Pre-K.
The nuisance trip turned into a life-changing experience once the cancer diagnosis came back.
“At first they said it was two years of treatment,” she said. “Two years passed, but after two years they told us the leukemia came back, so it was another three years of treatment.”
“It’s been five years of chemo—five years—and now he’s been chemo-free for two years,” she added.
On a recent Saturday in the Nevares’ home, JJ said he was enjoying being back in school and passing the time playing Mario Kart and Fortnite on his Nintendo Switch.
“I didn’t really understand anything,” JJ recalls of his years battling cancer. “I didn’t really have adult feelings yet, so I didn’t really just know. I just said, okay, we’re doing this now.”
The Nevares family rallied around JJ and his treatment. It wasn’t until later that they learned about the potential ethylene oxide exposure from the nearby Midwest plant and that the chemical raises the risk of cancers such as leukemia.
It was an “ugly” feeling to consider that her son’s cancer may have been linked to the toxic emissions. The school is close to the plant, too, worrying her about other families. She thinks about the other children that go to JJ’s school and feels “sad that more children are at risk.”
Still, faced with the possibility that JJ’s cancer was caused by the ethylene oxide emissions, the Nevares family does not ignore the role the Midwest facility plays in sterilizing medical equipment. Maybe even some of the same medical equipment doctors used when treating her son.
“The products that they have, yes, they saved my son’s life, because they are products for hospitals,” Nidia said. “But it would be better if they, before putting the factory, see what’s around.”
Just like the Nevares family, Xavier Ortiz also lives close to the Midwest Sterilization facility.
There are reported cases of others who live near to the plant getting cancer, and many people and organizations, such as the Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC), believe that the plant’s ethylene oxide emissions are linked to these illnesses.
No specific cancer case has been proven linked to the plant. However, activists and concerned residents point to studies that show Laredo to be a hotspot of ethylene oxide exposure.
Like the Nevares family, Ortiz had no idea that emissions from the plant may be linked to his cancer until receiving a brochure from activists.
“They brought it to me and put it on the door. I checked the page and I told my wife, ‘Look, they say there's going to be a talk about this contamination, and the main cause it has is lymphoma,’” he said.
Ortiz wishes for a clear answer about the cause of his cancer, but while ethylene oxide is known to cause lymphoma, the lack of certainty bothers him.
“I have my children living in the house. I mean, I have more neighbors living there in the area,” Ortiz said. “It's not fair that more people would be contaminated.”
The families are empathetic and understanding of the sterilization plants and their necessity. They just worry about the community that surrounds the plant. They wish there was a way for both to coexist.
Ortiz's sickness affects him significantly on a daily basis.
“It affects my family’s finances, my health, my finances, my well-being, family problems due to the lack of money from not being able to work,” he said.
Chemotherapy treatments have left him stuck in bed for up to 12 days at a time, and his treatments, he stated, have been “very ugly.”
The Nevares share similar sentiments, as they cannot just pack up and move for the possibility of better air quality, and just wish for it to be provided in their own home without a fight.
Ortiz’s health has not seen positive improvement; his bone marrow is unable to produce the right amount of blood, he said. In the midst of this, Ortiz has praised his church and its efforts in bringing him peace and resources through his difficult time.
Even as he suffers, Ortiz recognizes that ethylene oxide is useful as a sterilizer. What he wants, he says, is a definitive answer as to the level of risk and for Midwest to properly mitigate it.
At the Nevares home, JJ the cancer survivor sums it up quite nicely.
“I would choose to protect the animals, make sure they’re safe,” he says, “because I love animals.”
“First thing would be to eliminate the contaminant they’re releasing,” Rafael Nevares elaborates, “so that no more children are affected, if that’s what’s causing the type of leukemia.”
Midwest did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including a detailed list of questions. In the past, the company has said its emissions are within legal limits.
Midwest has previously said that it is “taking all steps necessary to ensure that patients across the nation and residents locally remain safe.”
Olivia Biggs and Callaghan Mitchell are journalism students at Texas A&M University. Texas A&M journalism student Avery Foster and Texas A&M International University journalism student David Perez contributed to this report.