36 States Face Perchlorate Contamination

[Roland99]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-defense-pollution,0,5542368.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

RIALTO, Calif. -- Like dozens of other towns nationwide, this working-class suburb is facing an emerging threat of uncertain dimensions -- a chemical used in rocket fuel and defense manufacturing that has befouled nearly half its drinking water supply. Concern spread along with the underground plume of water that carries the chemical from barren land that once housed World War II munitions, Cold War weapons-makers and, now, fireworks warehouses and a dump.

As one city well after another tested positive for perchlorate -- six of the city's 13 wells in all -- projected cleanup costs ballooned to more than double Rialto's $40 million annual budget. The town sued the Defense Department and dozens of other suspected polluters, pleaded with residents to conserve water and hiked water rates 65 percent.

Officials and townspeople, meanwhile, want to know just how hazardous perchlorate is. High amounts can be dangerous -- the chemical can interrupt the production of thyroid hormones, which are needed for pre- and postnatal development. But how much exposure should be permissible sparks debate in governmental and scientific circles.

The conclusion of city leaders: Piping any amount of perchlorate into homes posed an unacceptable gamble.

[NVMojo]

1. Las Vegas has had a problem with this due to Kerr McGee

In 1997, perchlorate was discovered in the lower Colorado River by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The source of the perchlorate was traced back to Lake Mead, Las Vegas Wash and ultimately to the Kerr McGee Chemical Corporation facility in Henderson, Nevada. Production of perchlorate compounds at this site began in the early 1950s. Kerr McGee took over production of perchlorate compounds, including ammonium perchlorate, at its Henderson facility in 1967.

From 1951 to 1976, perchlorate production wastes were conveyed to unlined ponds for disposal. Percolation through these ponds contributed to perchlorate in the underlying groundwater. A more significant source of groundwater impacts, however, appears to stem from chronic or sustained leakage from pipelines or conveyance pumps associated with ammonium perchlorate production. Ammonium perchlorate, the primary component of solid rocket fuel, is an inorganic salt which is highly soluble in water. Perchlorate is a very stable ion formed through the dissolution of ammonium perchlorate in water. Once released to the groundwater, perchlorate is highly mobile and moves with the groundwater.

more....

http://ndep.nv.gov/admin/epa_award03.htm

[Horse with no Name]

2. Is this what the movie "Silkwood" was based on? eom

[Roland99]

4. Silkwood was about Kerr-McGee but at a plutonium processing plant in Okla.

[Horse with no Name]

7. Thank you.

I haven't seen the movie in years and couldn't quite remember the storyline. They filmed it in my area and was really cool to see Cher, Meryl Streep and Kirk Russell shopping in Sherman, TX.

[WhiteTara]

14. I lived in Oklahoma when Karen was murdered

and that was not "cool" at all.  It was terrible.

[aquart]

9. Damn, my sister's in California

And she has enough problems.

[KoKo]

3. Does anyone have a link to the 36 State? Article doesn't say...

:shrug: Imagine any state with Military Operations, but still would like to see the list.

[Roland99]

5. Haven't one but found this

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/11472032.htm

[seafan]

8. Here is a very good source.

http://www.epa.gov/fedfac/documents/perchlorate_map/nationalmap.htm
(This is an interactive map.)


http://www.epa.gov/fedfac/documents/perchlorate_map/nationalmap.htm
(And this is a technical article where I found the above link, discussing the breast milk study.) "Perchlorate and Iodide in Dairy and Breast Milk", from the American Chemical Society

[KoKo]

12. Thanks for the links! n/t

[seafan]

13. Correction for the second link to the technical article.....

http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/jcen?esthag/asap/html/es048118t.html

[Boo Boo]

6. You really shouldn't drink tap water unless

you filter it. Try this:

http://www.generalecology.com

The best!

[Gloria]

11. Or this one.....carbon block filter system...

http://www.multipure.com/product_info.htm

We have this one. Las Cruces has a plume of this shit, still messing around with the EPA on paying for the cleanup

[brentspeak]

10. Perchlorate compounds are highly explosive

There was an infamous incident at one of the UCal chemistry departments about 10 years ago where a chemist lost his arm, his eyesight, and half his face after gently tapping on a test tube of ammonium perchlorate compound.