MCALLEN – A McAllen mother impacted by the toxic plume in her neighborhood believes her daughter’s leukemia was caused by the chemicals.

Close to 10 years ago a McAllen neighborhood found out they were living on top thousands of gallons of leaked gasoline and benzene.

Gracie Ozuna lost her daughter, Nuvia to leukemia; to this day she believes a toxic plume lurking below their neighborhood was the cause of her daughter’s illness.

“Well, she was a little girl, very pretty, very animated; she wanted to be like me. I remember her saying ‘I want to be like you mommy'”, she says.

According to the TCEQ’s toxicological profile report on Benzene, long term exposure to Benzene can cause cancer of the blood-forming organs; this condition is called leukemia.

The website also states most of the Benzene levels in the area are below the maximum contamination level for groundwater.

Ozuna says even though her daughter is no longer with her, she’s happy the people who live in the neighborhood in question don’t have to live with the chemicals anymore.

For more information watch the video above.