EPA Unlikely to Limit Perchlorate in Tap Water: Pressured by White House, Pentagon

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: Washington Post

The Environmental Protection Agency, under pressure from the White House and the Pentagon, is poised to rule as early as today that it will not set a drinking-water safety standard for perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women, newborns and young children across the nation.

According to a near-final document obtained by The Washington Post, the EPA's "preliminary regulatory determination" -- which was extensively edited by White House officials -- marks the final step in a six-year-old battle between career EPA scientists who advocate regulating the chemical and White House and Pentagon officials who oppose it. The document estimates that up to 16.6 million Americans are exposed to perchlorate at a level many scientists consider unsafe; independent researchers, using federal and state data, put the number at 20 million to 40 million.

Some perchlorate occurs naturally, but most perchlorate contamination in U.S. drinking water stems from improper disposal by rocket test sites, military bases and chemical plants. A nationwide cleanup could cost hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars, and several defense contractors have threatened to sue the Defense Department to help pay for it if one is required.

The new EPA proposal -- which assumes the maximum allowable perchlorate contamination level is 15 times what the EPA had suggested in 2002 -- was heavily edited by officials of the White House Office of Management and Budget. They eliminated key passages and asked the EPA to use a new computer modeling approach to calculate the chemical's risks....

"They have distorted the science to such an extent that they can justify not regulating" the chemical, said Robert Zoeller, a University of Massachusetts professor who specializes in thyroid hormone and brain development and has a copy of the EPA proposal. "Infants and children will continue to be damaged, and that damage is significant."...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/21/AR2008092102352_pf.html

[Roland99]

1. heavily edited by the white house. *$@%b&@$! they disgust me SO much!!!

[Trillo]

2. The pressure from above is just too much.

Our "high" government officials now are sole advocates for business, instead of citizens or their health, and guess what, that's good for the heath care business, as you spend money when you're sick, and when you do that, corporations earn more profit! Hey, everybody wins (except when you die)! Keep the economy rolling....

[aquart]

3. Welcome to new China.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. My first thought, too. nt

[endthewar]

4. NEVER drink tap water before putting it through a Brita filter.

I've worked in the chemical industry, so trust me, don't drink tap water. It's only filtered to remove visible debris, not to really clean the water from chemicals dumped into it.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Thanks for that good advice, endthewar! nt

[endthewar]

8. Worked at a chemical plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia

as a co-op engineer while still in undergrad. One of the technicians in my research lab, probably in his late 20s, found out that he had a kidney stone. His doctor told him that it probably was the result of him drinking the tap water in the area when he was a kid. There are quite a few companies located right by the Ohio River in that area. That area has one of the highest incidence rates of kidney stones in the entire country.

Interesting though (or rather kind of frightening) is the fact that many of these companies will claim that the water they put back into the river is cleaner than the water they take out. Technically they're correct, but you have to follow their twisted logic. Basically, the water has a lot of chlorine in it to begin with. So before they put the water back into the river, they can just remove a lot of the chlorine from the water and replace some of it with other "stuff". So the net result is that they took out more chlorine than they put in other "stuff". I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not that water is actually cleaner.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

5. What's wrong with a little rocket fuel?

Chimpy drank worse stuff back in the day.:sarcasm:

[endthewar]

9. Sounds kind of like caffeine since it has a lot of energy stored in it.

:sarcasm:

[starroute]

10. There's a lot of high-level lobbying behind this

What the Washington Post article won't tell you ...

http://www.councilonwaterquality.org/about/index.html

The Council on Water Quality is supported by a subset of the member companies of the Perchlorate Study Group, including Lockheed Martin, Aerojet, Tronox and American Pacific Corporation. In the past decade, the Perchlorate Study Group has worked cooperatively with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to increase scientific and medical understanding of perchlorate’s risk to human health.


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

The Politics of Rocket Fuel Pollution

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 scientific and public debate. . . .

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 (See "Perchlorate Study Group Budget, 2004" on page 4); 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.

[crossroads]

11. This is disgusting! Our goverment is run by corporation$ ! nt

[DeepModem Mom]

14. Thanks for this additional info, starroute. nt

[Ian David]

12. Bush has a very good justification for not minding a poisoned water supply-- Mark 16:17-18

"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." -- Mark 16:17-18
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mk/16.html#17

Also:
http://tinyurl.com/Mark16-17-18

[Hardrada]

13. What part of "defence" doesn't the Department of Defence

understand. They're supposed to protect us not insidiously kill us.

[Doctor_J]

15. Another campaign ad for Obama!

Smirk is the gift that keeps on giving :thumbsup:

[Newsjock]

16. EPA against limiting rocket fuel ingredient in water

Source: Associated Press

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided there's no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has fouled public water supplies around the country.

EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed Monday by The Associated Press.

The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists.

... The conclusion, which caps years of dispute over the issue, was denounced by Democrats and environmentalists who accused the EPA of caving to pressure from the Pentagon.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/09/22/rocket.fuel.epa.ap/index.html

[Jim Sagle]

17. I guess they want to kill us.

[Newsjock]

18. The effort to remove the rotting stench from our government

... is going to take years and is going to reach down into every nook and cranny of every single agency. Just like al-Qaida, there are countless "sleeper cells" of Loyal Bushies who will be hiding in our government, just waiting to strike again and resume their wanton destruction.

[trthnd4jstc]

19. What is the EPA for, but to lessen environmental safety, and make the world safer for greed. n/t

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

20. Duplicate post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3504325

[FVZA_Colonel]

21. So it has finally switched from "malicious neglet" to

"actively trying to murder people."

[Dover]

22. Why is rocket fuel so pervasive in our water?...n/t

[Ian David]

23. Mark 16:17-18 "... and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them

"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." -- Mark 16:17-18
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mk/16.html#17

EPA Unlikely to Limit Perchlorate in Tap Water: Pressured by White House, Pentagon
http://tinyurl.com/Mark16-17-18

[Supersedeas]

24. who do they work for anyways?