Federal EPA Likely To Pass On Regulating Contaminating Chemical

Sacromento Bee, Chris Bowman
Published May 5, 2008

The Bush administration likely won't follow California in regulating a rocket fuel chemical that has contaminated drinking water supplies in at least 35 states, a federal official told a Senate committee Tuesday. Benjamin Grumbles, the Environmental Protection Agency's assistant water chief, said agency officials do not dispute studies showing that the chemical -- perchlorate -- increases developmental health risks for babies. But, Grumbles said, there's a "distinct possibility" EPA officials won't take action because they don't know whether regulation would meaningfully reduce those risks. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, accused the EPA of dragging its feet. "EPA is trying to shunt the scientists to the back, put the (Defense Department) contractors to the front," Boxer chided. "We want to see action by the scientists. We want to see a standard set." The exchange came in a hearing on three bills that would the give the EPA an 18-month deadline to set drinking water standards limiting the amounts of perchlorate and trichloroethylene (TCE), a toxic solvent that has been linked to brain damage, liver cancer, skin diseases and immune disorders. One of the bills carries Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's sponsorship. The Defense Department has deemed the chemicals "mission critical." But their decades-long use in munitions and rockets has led to widespread contamination of soil and water. In the absence of EPA action, California, Massachusetts and New Jersey have set their own enforceable standard, which is permissible under the federal Clean Water Act. Large doses of the chemical have been shown to interfere with the thyroid gland, which plays a major role in children's brain development. Perchlorate contamination is especially acute in California because of the large number of military operations and defense contractors. GenCorp's Aerojet in Rancho Cordova has spent millions of dollars in perchlorate and TCE monitoring and cleanup. The chemicals are linked to historic disposal practices at Aerojet. In the 1950s through 1970s, the defense contractor disposed of residual rocket fuel and metal-cleaning solvents in unlined open pits, allowing the wastes to seep through the soil and into the groundwater tapped for Rancho Cordova homes. The Pentagon, NASA and defense contractors have weighed heavily into the scientific debate over regulating perchlorate, raising outcry from some environmentalists. "Perchlorate provides a textbook example of a corrupted health-protection system, where polluters, the Pentagon, the White House and the EPA have conspired to block health protections in order to pad budgets, curry political favor and protect corporate profits," Richard Wiles, executive director of Environmental Working Group, told the senate committee Tuesday. The nonprofit advocacy group has commissioned laboratory studies that documented the presence of perchlorate in lettuce, cow's milk and human breast milk.