News Coverage
Environmentalists Criticize EPA Drinking Water Regulation
Published July 16, 2003
Environmentalists believe the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is failing to aggressively protect the nation's drinking water from a range of contaminants, including perchlorate - a chemical found in rocket fuel and known to have contaminated water supplies in some 20 states.
Last week, the EPA announced it had concluded a six year review of some 69 drinking water regulations and had finalized nine contaminants on its Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). The agency is required by the Safe Drinking Water Act to review and revise national primary drinking water regulation every six years. The law mandates that each revision "shall maintain, or provide for greater, protection of the health of persons."
The agency ruled that "at this time it is not appropriate to develop regulations" for those nine, even though two of them - aldrin and dieldin - are supposed to be eliminated under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
In addition, the agency decided against adding any new contaminants to its list of some 90 it regulates in drinking water.
The agency did not mention perchlorate in particular, but the pollutant, which is the explosive component of rocket and missile fuel, has emerged the pivotal issue for some environmentalists.
"This decision shows the Bush administration's shocking disregard for what Americans say is the single most important environmental issue - clean safe, drinking water," said Bill Walker, vice president of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) , a nonprofit environmental research firm.
Although there are currently no enforceable perchlorate safety standards, the EPA's currently recommended safe dose is equal to one part per billion (ppb) in drinking water.
EWG, believes a national safety standard should be no higher than 0.1 ppb.
Some in Congress are also pushing for action - California Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, has introduced a bill that would require the EPA to establish a national drinking water safety standard for perchlorate contamination in drinking water supplies by July 1, 2004.
Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved a military spending bill that contained a provision ordering the EPA and the Pentagon to study perchlorate contamination in groundwater. The provision calls on EPA to set a drinking water standard for the pollutant within six months of its passage.
EPA officials say there are still large holes in the data and contend a rulemaking process can not begin until studies are complete unless there is congressional action. The agency has asked the National Academy of Science to study the issue and expects that report next year.