http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-rocket-fuel-pollution%2C0%2C5906838.story?track=rss
EPA might not act to limit rocket fuel in drinking water
Chicago Tribune
By ERICA WERNER | Associated Press Writer
May 6, 2008
WA****NGTON - An EPA official said Tuesday there's a "distinct possibility"
the
agency won't take action to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel
ingredient that has contaminated public water supplies around the country.
Democratic senators called that unacceptable. They argued that states and
local communities shouldn't have to bear the expense of cleansing their
drinking water of perchlorate, which has been found in at least 395 sites
in
35 states -- or the risk of not doing so.
The toxin interferes with thyroid function and poses developmental health
risks, particularly to fetuses.
Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the Environmental
Protection Agency, told a Senate hearing that EPA is aware that
perchlorate is
widespread and poses health risks.
But he said that after years of study, EPA has yet to determine whether
regulating perchlorate in drinking water would do much good.
"Is there a meaningful op****tunity to reduce risk if we issue a new
national
regulation on perchlorate? We've been spending a lot of time on that,
Madam
Chairman," Grumbles told Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chair of the
Environment and Public Works Committee.
"I understand your frustration in how long the process is taking but we
believe it's im****tant to do the work," Grumbles said, promising a
decision by
the end of the year.
"EPA is trying to shunt the scientists to the back, put the DOD
contractors to
the front," Boxer chided. "We want to see action by the scientists. We
want to
see a standard set."
Grumbles told Boxer it was possible that instead of a regulation, EPA
would
issue a public health advisory, which would simply provide information.
After
the hearing he told re****ters that a decision to regulate perchlorate was
also
still on the table.
Most perchlorate contamination resulted from Defense Department
activities.
The Pentagon could face huge cleanup costs if EPA sets a national drinking
water standard for the contaminant, and DOD has tussled with EPA over the
issue, according to a re****t last week by congressional investigators.
Perchlorate is particularly widespread in California and the Southwest,
where
it's been found in groundwater and in the Colorado River, a drinking water
source for 20 million people. It's also been found in lettuce and other
foods.
Grumbles is awaiting the results of a Food and Drug Administration study
that
could shed light on how much perchlorate ingestion comes from food versus
water.
The dispute over the federal government's response has been long-standing.
The
EPA in 2005 issued a safety standard for the chemical of 24.5 parts per
billion which was criticized as "not protective" by EPA's own Children's
Health Protection Advisory Committee. The safety standard indicates what
EPA
considers a safe exposure level and guides Superfund cleanups, but the
agency
still didn't move forward with a drinking water standard.
In absence of that, states acted on their own. In 2007, California adopted
a
drinking water standard of 6 parts per billion. Massachusetts has set a
drinking water standard of 2 parts per billion.
Boxer has introduced legislation that she plans to bring to a committee
vote
in June that would require EPA to set a drinking water standard. Committee
Republicans said Congress should stand back and let the EPA finish its
work.
___
On the Net:
Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov
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