Pentagon pressures US water watchdog

Morning Star
Published September 24, 2008

Environmentalists accused a US government watchdog of caving in to the Pentagon on Tuesday after it decided that there was no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has tainted public water supplies. The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels that could interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and foetuses. But the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asserts in a leaked draft regulatory document that mandating a cleanup level for perchlorate would not result in a "meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public water systems." The document estimates that up to 16.6 million US citizens are exposed to perchlorate at a level that many scientists say is unsafe. Independent researchers put the figure at between 20 to 40 million. University of Massachusetts Professor Robert Zoeller, an expert in thyroid hormone and brain development, accused the EPA of having "distorted the science to such an extent that they can justify not regulating" perchlorate. "Infants and children will continue to be damaged and that damage is significant," Prof Zoeller warned, pointing to scientific studies that have shown that a small reduction in thyroid function in infants can translate into a loss of IQ and an increase in behavioural and perception problems. Environmental Working Group Executive director Richard Wiles said: "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 favour and protect corporate profits." The Defence Department used perchlorate for decades in testing missiles and rockets. Congressional investigators have confirmed that most of the perchlorate contamination is the result of defence and aerospace activities. The Pentagon could face liability if the EPA set a national drinking water standard that forced water agencies around the country to undertake costly cleanup efforts. Defence officials have spent years questioning EPA conclusions about the risks posed by perchlorate. Democrat Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate's environment committee said: "This is a widespread contamination problem and to see the Bush EPA just walk away is shocking." Centre for Public Environmental Oversight director Lenny Siegel added: "This is an unconscionable decision not based upon science or law but on concern that a more stringent standard could cost the government significantly." Pentagon spokesman Paul Yaroschak rejected the suggestion that the agency had influenced the EPA decision, saying: "We have not intervened in any way."