California Perchlorate Letter

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The following letter was sent yesterday to Governor Schwarznegger of
California, asking him not to delay the promulgation of a health
standard for perchlorate.

LS

***

January 27, 2004

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger 
Governor of California
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA  95814


Dear Governor Schwarzenegger, 

On behalf of our hundreds of thousands of members, and all Californians
who are concerned about safe drinking water, we urge you to resist
pressure from the chemical industry and other industrial polluters to
further delay the state drinking water standard for perchlorate, a
potent thyroid toxin that contaminates the water supplies of at least 20
million Californians. Setting the standard is not only required by
California law, but is necessary to protect pubic health, especially
that of pregnant women, fetuses, infants, and small children.

Perchlorate, the main ingredient of solid rocket and missile fuel, can
affect the thyroid's ability to take up the essential nutrient iodide
and make thyroid hormones. For infants and children, small disruptions
in thyroid hormones in utero and during early development can cause
lowered IQ; larger disruptions can cause mental retardation, loss of
hearing and speech, or deficits in motor skills. Large doses of
perchlorate may also be linked to cancer.

According to the Department of Health Services (DHS), perchlorate
contamination has been confirmed in at least 563 drinking water sources
in ten counties, with more contamination discovered almost every month.
In addition, pollution from the largest known source of perchlorate in
the nation, the now-closed Kerr-McGee perchlorate manufacturing facility
in Henderson, Nevada, is contaminating the Colorado River, which
provides water to approximately 18 million Southern Californians. 

Perchlorate contamination is clearly a public health concern. Delays in
setting a safety standard will also have devastating effects on
California's economy, especially for our agricultural producers, water
customers, and taxpayers. The documented presence of perchlorate in
fruit and vegetables grown in the Coachella and Imperial Valleys has
prompted the Canadian government to require perchlorate tests on all
Imperial Valley produce, and recent research indicates that perchlorate
may accumulate in cows' milk and other foods. The recognition of a
potential public health threat is likely to prompt other countries to
question or restrict food imported from California. Without an
enforceable standard, California farmers, other water users, and
taxpayers will be stuck with the bill for water treatment and source
remediation, which could reach billions of dollars. With a standard in
place, the polluters - including the Defense Department, whose military
bases and contractors are the sources of most perchlorate pollution -
can be held accountable for cleaning up the mess they've made. 

SB 1822, enacted with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2002, required
the state to set a perchlorate standard by January 1, 2004. That
deadline has already been missed, partly because of a legal challenge
from major perchlorate polluters. The Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a draft recommendation for a
perchlorate Public Health Goal (PHG), the last step before setting an
enforceable Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL). Finalization of the
perchlorate drinking water standard would force polluters to clean up
contaminated sites, thus protecting public health, our agriculture, and
valuable natural resources. But now the polluters are asking for further
delay. 

The Council on Water Quality, an industry group, has requested that
California delay action until a National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
committee finishes a review of the EPA's assessment of the public health
risks associated with perchlorate exposure. This is a ploy to postpone
standards that will require polluters to clean up perchlorate
contamination, as the NAS study is expected to delay promulgation of a
federal drinking water standard by at least two years. The Council on
Water Quality falsely claims that the NAS review will be complete by May
2004; the more likely release date will be in 2005.  In addition,
polluters are lobbying for a standard that disregards the proven health
impacts of perchlorate and let them off the hook for cleanup. 

The EPA's risk assessment relied primarily on laboratory studies of
animals, while OEHHA relied on industry-sponsored human studies.
Interestingly, both OEHHA and the EPA evaluations produced similar
results. In fact, EPA's assessment, if finalized, would lead to a
federal drinking water standard comparable to or more stringent than
that proposed for California.

Given the rigorous evaluations performed by two highly respected
agencies and the consensus between them on the need to set a very strict
standard, there is no scientific or legal reason to further delay the
establishment of a perchlorate standard. The delay of a rigorous safety
standard continues to put millions of California residents - especially
children - at risk.

Governor Schwarzenegger, in your campaign you promised to care for
California's children and strengthen its economy. Here is an opportunity
to deliver on both fronts by protecting children's health and the
viability of California agriculture. We urge you to resist the
perchlorate polluters' attempts to further postpone regulation, and to
direct the state's scientists and enforcement agencies to move swiftly
to comply with the law.


Sincerely,


Jane Williams 
California Communities Against Toxics

Lenny Siegel 
Executive Director 
Center for Public Environmental Oversight

Lena Brook
Interim California State Director
Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund

Sujatha Jahagirdar
Clean Water Advocate
Environment California

Steering Committee
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water

Bill Walker
Vice President/West Coast
Environmental Working Group

Gina M. Solomon, M.D., M.P.H.
Senior Scientist
Natural Resources Defense Council

Jonathan Parfrey
Executive Director 
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles

Matt Hagemann
Principal
Soil Water Air Protection Enterprise







-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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