News Coverage
Pentagon misses report date
Published April 30, 2004
The Pentagon blew a congressionally mandated deadline Friday for revealing the full extent of rocket fuel pollution in the nation's water supplies.
The 2001 study is believed to include an examination of perchlorate contamination at all the Defense Department's 5,000 active and closed military installations. So far, the agency has only revealed scattered portions of the report, showing results for just 305 bases.
"It's not good news that they haven't revealed the results," said Dr. Gina Solomon, senior scientist for the National Resources Defense Council.
Noting that 40 states including California already have found perchlorate contamination in their drinking-water supplies, Solomon said, "We will probably be adding to the list" once the public obtains the full report.
"The Department of Defense has been dragging their feet because they're really afraid of how much this is going to cost. Also, it looks bad for them to have it come out showing they have so thoroughly contaminated so many sites," added Renee Sharp, senior analyst for the Environmental Working Group in Oakland.
Perchlorate is a naturally occurring and man-made chemical that is the main ingredient in solid rocket fuel. It has been linked to thyroid damage and various forms of cancer.
Aerospace-rich Southern California has been a hotbed of perchlorate contamination. According to statistics compiled by the Environmental Working Group, more than 80 percent of the state's 351 polluted water- supply systems are in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
Of particular concern is the Colorado River, a major source of drinking water for Southern California. An estimated 400 pounds of the rocket fuel component enters the river daily from a defunct war-munitions complex near Las Vegas.
Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood said the delay is strictly procedural and officials expect to release the report in early May.
"We're not dragging our feet."
Noting that the White House budget office is still reviewing the report, Flood said, "It's a process we have to go through.
Lawmakers have long sought the comprehensive report, and last year Congress approved a measure pushed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., directing the Pentagon to release the study results by April 30, 2004.
In a letter Friday to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Feinstein wrote that she is "deeply disappointed" by the delay.
"Additionally I am troubled by the fact that the Department has consistently avoided providing information to Congress about perchlorate contamination on Defense Department sites, and describing what, if anything, has been done to remediate the contamination."
Sharp said when the results are finally unveiled she hardly expects to find the Department of Defense has tested all their sites for perchlorate. But, she said, the Environmental Protection Agency and the public will be able to discover where else in the country perchlorate has been used.
"Those are the places we're likely to find contamination, and those are the places we need to test first," she said.
In the meantime, the EPA is working on a first-ever U.S. national standard in drinking water for perchlorate. The agency is not expected to issue a final standard until 2006.
AT A GLANCE
Known contaminated drinking water sources in California:
Los Angeles County - 134
Orange County - 33
Riverside County - 67
Sacramento County - 14
San Bernardino County - 82
Santa Clara County - 9
Tulare County - 8
Ventura County - 2
San Diego County - 1
Sonoma County - 1
Source: Environmental Working Group