The Environmental Protection Agency has decided there is no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has fouled public water supplies around the United States.
EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed Monday by The Associated Press.
Morgan Hill City Councilman Mark Grzan didn't sound surprised.
"I think that's a Bush Administration decision, and with the administration change that will come this year, we will see the new President and new Congress take issue with the EPA," Grzan said.
The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels some scientists say could interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses.
It's these health risks that alarm Grzan.
In absence of federal action, states have acted on their own. In October, California set a standard of 6 parts per billion maximum perchlorate level. Grzan would like to see a standard more like Massachusett's 2 ppb. Unlike California, Massachusetts officials took into account levels of perchlorate found in food in addition to water, Grzan said.
Still, at least there is a California standard, according to Santa Clara Valley Water District senior hydrogeologist Tom Mohr. The EPA's decision not to set a federal standard doesn't affect it.
"Because California has a disproportionate number of defense industry, it also has a disproportionate level of perchlorate in the groundwater, so the state went ahead and adopted a standard," Mohr said, adding that it was a drawn-out process for state scientists and politicians.
Morgan Hill has a storied history with perchlorate. In 2000, Olin Corp., which produced signal flares in Morgan Hill from 1956 to 1995, discovered it had been leaking perchlorate into the groundwater. from its 13-acre property at 425 Tennant Ave.
The city has petitioned the California State Water Resources Control Board to order the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board to order Olin to replace the contaminated water by building Morgan Hill residents a new well, which is the San Pedro Well at Murphy Avenue.
At the federal level, the EPA document says 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 conclusion, which caps years of dispute over the issue, was denounced by Democrats and environmentalists who accused EPA of caving in to pressure from the Pentagon.
"This is a widespread contamination problem, and to see the Bush EPA just walk away is shocking," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat who chairs the Senate's environment committee.
Lenny Siegel, director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight in Mountain View, Calif., 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."
The Defense Department used perchlorate for decades in testing missiles and rockets, and most perchlorate contamination is the result of defense and aerospace activities, congressional investigators said last year.
The Pentagon could face liability if EPA set a national drinking water standard that forced water agencies around the country to undertake costly cleanup efforts. Defense officials have spent years questioning EPA's conclusions about the risks posed by perchlorate.
The Pentagon objected strongly Monday to the suggestion that it sought to influence EPA's decision.
"We have not intervened in any way in EPA's determination not to regulate perchlorate. If you read their determination, that's based on criteria in the Safe Drinking Water Act," Paul Yaroschak, Pentagon deputy director for emerging contaminants, said in an interview.
Yaroschak said the Pentagon has been working for years to clean up perchlorate at its facilities. He also contended that the Pentagon was not the source of as much perchlorate contamination as once believed, noting that it also comes from fireworks, road flares and fertilizer.
Benjamin Grumbles, EPA's assistant administrator for water, said in a statement that "science, not the politics of fear in an election year, will drive our final decision."
"We know perchlorate in drinking water presents some degree of risk, and we're committed to working with states and scientists to ensure public health is protected and meaningful opportunities for reducing risk are fully considered," Grumbles said.
Grumbles said the EPA expected to seek comment and take final action before the end of the year. The draft document was first reported Monday by the Washington Post.
Perchlorate is particularly widespread in California and the Southwest, where it has been found in groundwater and in the Colorado River, a drinking-water source for 20 million people. Its also has been found in lettuce and other foods.
Reporter Natalie Everett contributed to this report
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