E.P.A. Plans First Rules Ever on Perchlorate in Drinking Water

[Donnachaidh]

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/e-p-a-plans-strict-limits-on-toxic-chemicals-in-drinking-water/

The Obama administration announced on Wednesday that it planned to regulate toxic substances in drinking water more strictly and would issue the first limits ever on perchlorate, a dangerous chemical found in rocket fuel that has seeped into groundwater in at least 400 locations.

The move, announced by the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, is a major step toward modernizing the nation’s clean water laws, which have lagged behind environmental and health science for decades.

Numerous studies have found that hundreds industrial and agricultural chemicals, including several known carcinogens, are present in municipal water systems around the country. The nation’s laws and enforcement programs have not kept pace, posing significant health risks to residents.

Wednesday’s decision to begin regulating perchlorate reversed a 2008 finding by the George W. Bush administration that a nationwide standard for the chemical was unnecessary and would do little to reduce risks to human health.

More at the link --

[Ilsa]

1. And if the GOP throws a hissy-fit, I hope the President serves them a pitcher of it. nt

[Kolesar]

2. Dr. Sanjay Gupta/CNN seemed to endorse the new standards

Hooray for the Democratic administration!!

[starroute]

3. This issue has a long and nasty history

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/reports/clean-water/clean-water-program-reports/the-politics-of-rocket-fuel-pollution

2006-12-01

The main ingredient in solid rocket fuel—perchlorate—pollutes drinking water sources in more than 20 states. Tests also reveal perchlorate in grocery store food supplies and in breast milk from women across the country. A 2005 study by researchers at Texas Tech University suggests that breastfed babies ingest levels of perchlorate that exceed the 'safe dose' recently established by the National Academy of Science—putting children at risk for development damage. California state agencies have discovered perchlorate in more than 400 water sources since 1997, including the Colorado River and hundreds of municipal wells.

In 1992 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the first steps toward requiring cleanup of perchlorate from drinking water. In response, a group of manufacturers and users of rocket fuel joined to form the Perchlorate Study Group (PSG), with the stated intention of helping EPA by providing scientific information.

However, documents from the internal files of participants in the PSG reveal that, much like the tobacco industry, these companies paid millions of dollars to fund misleading research and millions more to influence the scientiïfic and public debate. . . .

The PSG supports an organization called the Council on Water Quality, including a prominent spokesperson (former California EPA director James Strock). The Council has consistently and publicly downplayed concerns about rocket fuel exposure. Deeper investigation reveals that:

* The Council on Water Quality is actually a project of the public relations firm APCO Worldwide;

* In 2004, the PSG paid APCO $770,000 to run this effort; and

* On behalf of Philip Morris, APCO has used similar front groups to challenge the use of science in policy-making and make it harder for citizens to sue corporations.