DEATH OF A LEGEND
CINCINNATI (WKRC) - On a baseball field behind Piketon High School, young men gather on field where dreams of greatness still play out.
A decade ago, one dream here turned legendary when Zach Farmer took the mound and became a three-time All-American.
“Zach was in the prime of his life," Larry Farmer said, watching the young men practice from behind a safety net at home plate,.
Larry was Zach’s dad and his coach.
“This is his element,” Larry said. “It always brings back memories."
Zach was so gifted at baseball, he had offers to sign a major league contract before he graduated from Piketon High. He chose instead to become a Buckeye, signing to play with The Ohio State University.
But before he could reach the pinnacle of pitching, life threw Zach a tragic curve ball.
He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a vicious cancer that is rare at Zach’s age.
In 2015, a little more than a week after his 21st birthday, Zach died.
CONVINCED CONTAMINATION CLAIMED HIS SON
When Local 12 began the “Fallout” investigation nearly two years ago, Duane Pohlman sat down first with Larry, who agreed to his first in-depth, on-camera interview.
- WATCH THE ORIGINAL STORY: WAS ALL-AMERICAN ZACH FARMER’S CANCER CONNECTED TO PORTS?
It was emotional, as Larry blamed his son’s death on the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS), a now-closed Cold War-era plant that enriched uranium for America’s nuclear bombs and reactors, and the federal government that oversaw operations there.
Larry says he feels guilt, too. He raised Zach at a home just a mile-and-a-half from PORTS, and while he can’t prove it, Larry believes the radioactive particles produced at the plant drifted to his home, triggering the leukemia that claimed his son.
At the baseball field, Larry doubled down on his belief.
DUANE: “Are you convinced it was related to the plant?”
LARRY FARMER: "Yeah, and nobody will convince me of anything else.”
WATCHING WHAT WE’VE UNCOVERED
Since that first interview, Larry says he’s watched what Local 12 has been uncovering, from high cancer rates and radioactive particles picked up inside a now-closed middle school, to a local mother teaming up with a scientist in Arizona to prove radioactive contamination in the surrounding communities is connected to the plant, to the latest and most stunning find: proving Russian radioactive shipments to PORTS were contaminated with at least trace amounts of plutonium, which is much more dangerous than uranium.
WATCH OUR COMPLETE “FALLOUT” INVESTIGATION:
- WAS ALL-AMERICAN ZACH FARMER’S CANCER CONNECTED TO PORTS?
- THE DEATH OF KATE SMITH AND THE CLOSING OF ZAHN’S CORNER MIDDLE SCHOOL
- PIKE COUNTY TOPS STATE WITH “ALARMING” CANCER RATES
- IS THERE DANGER ON OUR DOORSTEP?
- RADIOACTIVE RIGS: MILLIONS OF RADIOACTIVE LOADS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
- TRI-STATE MOTHER TEAMS UP WITH SCIENTIST TO UNCOVER THE TRUTH -- PART 1
- LOCAL MOTHER MONITORS AIR, TEAMS-UP WITH SCIENTIST TO UNCOVER TRUTH -- PART 2
- FROM TECH-99 TO THE PANDEMIC PAUSE, RESEARCHER CONNECTS RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION TO PORTS
- RUSSIAN NUCLEAR WARHEADS BOUGHT, PROCESSED AND MATERIAL SHIPPED TO SOUTHERN OHIO
- LOCAL 12 INVESTIGATION TRACKS DOWN SOURCE OF RUSSIAN RADIOACTIVE SHIPMENTS TO SOUTHERN OHIO
- US REP RYAN DEMANDS ANSWERS FOLLOWING LOCAL 12 INVESTIGATION
US DOE SAYS IT’S SAFE
The US Department of Energy (DOE), which oversees PORTS, disputes much of this reporting, insisting there is no radioactive threat posed by the plant, and that people in homes and communities surrounding PORTS are safe.
Larry Farmer disagrees.
"You feel that, you know, somebody lied to you," Larry said.
KATE’S DAD
Wayne Smith sat on his porch at a home nestled at the end of long drive up a hill, talking about the radioactive contamination that he believes has been hidden from people who live around there.
"I think the whole community, the whole county should have known, not just people that work there," Smith said of the radioactive elements that Local 12 identified and traced as part of the PORTS processes.
Wayne’s daughter, Kate, died in 2013 from a rare cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma when she was just 15 years old
"I miss her every day," Wayne said as he squinted and held back tears.
CLOSING THE CONTAMINATED SCHOOL
After Kate’s death, Wayne took a seat on the Scioto Valley School Board of Education, voting to close Zahn’s Corner Middle School after particles of enriched uranium were discovered inside.
“We closed the school down because I wouldn't want no kids to go through what my daughter went through,” Wayne explained.
Other children who attended Zahn’s Corner developed cancer and died as well, including Zach Farmer.
A MONUMENTAL TRIBUTE
A monument now stands at the entrance of the diamond Zach once conquered, at a place that now carries his name.
“Zachary D. Farmer Memorial Field” is now etched in granite, along with his picture and his meteoric baseball achievements.
“This shouldn't be him, and it shouldn't say 'Memorial Field,'” Larry said softly, as he looked over the tribute, noting that it should have been named for his son after he had a full baseball career and long life.
But words and a picture are all that’s left to pay homage to one of the greatest pitchers to take the mound there -- a tragic testimony to the devastating effects of cancer that continues to claim young lives and steal dreams.
DUANE: “Do you want answers?”
LARRY FARMER: “Oh, absolutely!”
DUANE: “Do they owe you one?”
LARRY FARMER: “Me and a whole bunch of other people.”