EPA Unlikely to Limit Perchlorate (rocket fuel component) in Tap Water

[babylonsister]

EPA Unlikely to Limit Perchlorate in Tap Water

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 22, 2008; Page A09



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.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/21/AR2008092102352.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[The Traveler]

1. Hey ... it makes water an Energy Drink ...

So what's the problem, you nattering nabob of negativism? :shrug:

Need I add ...

:sarcasm:

[JTFrog]

4. It's got electrolytes!!! n/t

[varkam]

5. And as we all know, it's what plants crave.

:rofl:

[MercutioATC]

2. You damn whiny liberals.

First, you complain about the price of gas...then you complain when you get free rocket fuel in your water.

There's just no pleasing you.

[tburnsten]

3. I know, who wants to put expensive rocket

fuel in water anyway? That's like dumping bottles of Grey Goose into a reservoir, doesn't make sense.