[CPEO-MEF] PERCHLORATE DETECTED IN ABERDEEN, MD CITY WELLS

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Press Advisory: October 3, 2002
For Immediate Release

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Glenda Bowling, APGSCC President
410-272-5925
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D.  University of Maryland, Baltimore
410-706-8196
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE?S FAILURE TO ALLOW APG TO CONDUCT EMERGENCY
RESPONSE JEOPARDIZES PUBLIC HEALTH

PERCHLORATE DETECTED IN ABERDEEN, MD CITY WELLS
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REFUSES REQUEST TO TREAT CONTAMINATION CAUSED BY
TRAINING ACTIVITIES IN CAMP STANTON, APG

COMMUNITY CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CLEANUP!

On October 1, 2002, Aberdeen Proving Ground notified the City of
Aberdeen and concerned citizens that 1 ppb perchlorate was detected in
the finished water. The actual water sample was collected on September
24. Due to the lag time between collecting the water sample and
receiving the analytical results, the community has been consuming
drinking water with perchlorate at the maximum level that is considered
by Maryland Department of the Environment and EPA Region III to be safe.
While the actual concentration of perchlorate in the finished water is
expected to fluctuate: The Aberdeen well field is contaminated with
perchlorate from military activities, and this contamination must be
treated now.

Aberdeen Proving Ground Superfund Citizens Coalition has requested that
APG construct an emergency portable treatment system to remove the
perchlorate from the drinking water. The Department of Defense has thus
far not permitted APG to do so.  Glenda Bowling, president of APGSCC,
said the City of Aberdeen, APG and DoD are not taking appropriate steps
to protect the public; ?The fact is we have been drinking perchlorate
tainted water and continue to be at a high risk for exposure.? Bowling
added, ?We are concerned about the city?s decision to shut down one well
and lower the production of others. This scenario is not necessarily
wise, the contaminated plume has no barriers, it will continue to move
toward and contaminate the operating wells and even potentially increase
perchlorate levels in them. ?

The perchlorate contamination is the result of training activities in
Camp Stanton, Aberdeen Proving Ground. Perchlorate can alter normal
thyroid function. Proper thyroid function is necessary to normal growth
and development in babies and children. Long term exposure to
perchlorate has been linked to thyroid cancer.

For more than a decade APGSCC has closely followed contamination issues
at APG, working with the Army and the EPA to develop solutions to the
complex problems of environmental contamination at this important
Superfund site. APGSCC has repeatedly argued that the perchlorate, which
was first detected in the groundwater near the City of Aberdeen
Production wells in April 2001, that it is inevitable that the
contamination will be detected in finished water. Therefore we urged APG
to be proactive and install a treatment system to remove perchlorate
from the City of Aberdeen production wells.

On August 20, 2002 the Maryland Department of the Environment sent a
letter (1) to the City of Aberdeen indicating that if concentrations in
the finished water are to rise above 1 ppb, then the city must notify
the public of the presence of perchlorate and advise the public that
?persons more likely to be sensitive to perchlorate should avoid using
tap water for drinking or cooking.?

Sensitive persons are defined as ?pregnant women, women who are breast
feeding, children under 3 years of age, and individuals known to have or
are predisposed to a hypothyroid (i.e., low thyroid hormone) condition.?

Instead of demonstrating foresight and designing a treatment system, the
Department of Defense issued a draft guidance PROHIBITING any military
entity from taking action to address perchlorate contamination (2).

The Department of Defense is therefore directly responsible for the
current unnecessary exposure of Aberdeen residents to perchlorate.

DOD Scared of Magnitude of Perchlorate Contamination
Why should the Department of Defense take an active role in preventing
APG from addressing perchlorate contamination?  The answer is because
the perchlorate contamination problem is expected to be so widespread at
current and former defense installations that the DOD is afraid of how
much it will cost to clean it up to protect human health.

Instead they are focussing their attention on pressuring the EPA to
select a higher concentration as the health-protective cleanup level.
DoD?s position is disheartening and fear provoking, water is a necessity
of life, people at risk and children should not be forced to drink
contaminated water. The community should not have to plea with the Army
to treat our drinking water.

According to Mr. Lenny Siegel, director of the Center for Public
Environmental Oversight, perchlorate has been found in hundreds of
drinking water sources in California, as well as in Lake Mead in Nevada
(3). Much of this contamination can be directly linked to the activities
of the military or military contractors.

FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIALS AWARE OF CRITICAL ISSUES
APGSCC calls on elected officials to protect public health by urging APG
to install a treatment system on contaminated Aberdeen wells now!

REFERENCES
(1) Letter from Robert M. Summers, Director, Water Management
Administration, Maryland Department of the Environment to Peter A.
Dacey, City Manager, City of Aberdeen, Maryland, dated August 20, 2002.

(2) Memorandum for Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Environment,
Safety, and Occupational Health) Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy
(Environment) Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Environment,
Safety, and Occupational Health) Staff Director, Environment and Safety,
Defense Logistics Agency Support Services (DSS-E). Subject: Interim
Guidance on Sampling for Ammonium Perchlorate Contamination, Signed by
John Paul Woodley, Jr., Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
(Environment).

(3) ?Perchlorate Summary?, Citizen?s Report on the Military and the
Environment, The Center for Public Environmental Oversight, September
2002. Volume IX, Number 2

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