Dems call for fuller characterization of perchlorate/munitions cons

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

On March 12, 2004, the Democratic leadership of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Leavitt
calling once again for EPA and the Defense Department to characterize
fully perchlorate and other munitions constituent contamination a
Defense facilities. Here is the text of that letter.

LS

***

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives

March 12, 2004

The Honorable Michael R. Leavitt
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W .
Washington, D.C. 20460-0001

Dear Administrator Leavitt:

On February 5,2004, we wrote to you expressing our serious concerns
about restrictions that had been imposed to prevent the direct
communication by Committee minority staff with Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Regional staff. We are pleased that you have removed the
restrictions and that minority staff members are now again communicating
directly with regional officials who are knowledgeable about the nature
and extent of contamination from perchlorate and other military
munitions constituents at Department of Defense (DOD) facilities. The
cooperation of the regional staff is appreciated.

In that spirit of cooperation we would like to share with you our
staff's assessment identifying 40 DOD facilities where known perchlorate
contamination of the surface water or groundwater exists at DOD
facilities. In several cases this contamination is known to have
migrated off-base and affected drinking water supplies. The assessment
reveals approximately 25 percent more facilities than the 30 that the
EPA identified in its response to us on June 27, 2003.

We remain very concerned that DOD is not aggressively investigating the
existence of perchlorate and other contamination from munitions
constituents at its facilities, particularly in the groundwater under
operational ranges, and is failing to provide complete and timely data
to EPA and state regulators. More often than not it appears that at the
base or installation level, the commanders and the state and EPA
regulators can work in a cooperative manner to address issues, including
sampling. Unfortunately, the lawyers and leadership in the Pentagon are
forcing unnecessary conflicts and challenges to EPA and state regulatory
authority. For example, members of the Committee minority staff were
informed of a situation where a DOD facility wanted to test for
perchlorate contamination of the groundwater but was blocked by Pentagon
officials in Washington. Ultimately, the facility asked state regulators
to send them a letter requesting perchlorate sampling as a way to
overcome the Pentagon's recalcitrance.

Our letter to you of February 5,2004, asked for comprehensive
information concerning contamination from military munitions
constituents (perchlorate, TNT, RDX, HMX, White Phosphorus) at DOD
facilities. The response to that letter is now approximately three weeks
overdue. The hearings on the annual Defense Authorization bill have
commenced and it is extremely important that such information be made
available to Congress immediately. Thank you for your attention to this
matter. If you need further information, please contact us or have your
staff contact Richard Frandsen with the Committee Democratic staff ....


John D. Dingell
Ranking Member
House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Hilda L. Solis
Ranking Member
Subommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials


-- 


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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CPEO: A DECADE OF SUCCESS.  Your generous support will ensure that our 
important work on military and environmental issues will continue.  
Please consider one of our donation options.  Thank you.
http://www.groundspring.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2086-0|721-0