Dirty Drinking Water - NYTimes.com "The Problem Is Clear: The Water Is Filthy" (news article, Nov. 14), about contaminated drinking water in California, really resonated with me. Last week, we buried our father, who spent his entire life working in agriculture, first as a field worker and then in a cold-storage facility. His doctors believed that his lung and brain tumors were related to his lifelong exposure to pesticides. I grew up in a neighborhood in Watsonville, Calif., an agricultural town where most families worked and raised their children near produce fields. In this neighborhood, the number of neurological diseases that have manifested in the population are numerous and commonplace. For example, of the seven children who lived next door to us, three have multiple sclerosis or lupus, which was diagnosed in high school or just after. Several others in the vicinity do as well, including several young men. I can still recall the crop dusters flying low over the field next to the neighborhood and the boys raising themselves up onto the fence, helping their little brothers up, to watch the plane as it rained down a yellow dust from only 10 feet above the ground. It's easy to forget that the beautiful and abundant produce that we see in our supermarket aisles comes at a price, but most people are not aware of how dearly we pay for it. Thank you for raising awareness about this human rights issue.