[CPEO-MEF] GAO testimony on the Defense Department, TCE, & perchlorate

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION Department of Defense Activities Related to 
Trichloroethylene, Perchlorate, and Other Emerging Contaminants

Highlights of GAO-07-1042T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on 
Readiness, Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives


Government Accountability Office
July 12, 2007

While TCE and perchlorate are both classified by DOD as emerging 
contaminants, there are important distinctions in how they are regulated 
and in what is known about their health and environmental effects. Since 
1989, EPA has regulated TCE in drinking water. However, health concerns 
over TCE have been further amplified in recent years after scientific 
studies have suggested additional risks posed by human exposure to TCE. 
Unlike TCE, no drinking water standard exists for perchlorate - a fact 
that has caused much discussion in Congress and elsewhere. Recent Food 
and Drug Administration data documenting the extent of perchlorate 
contamination in the nation's food supply has further fueled this debate.

While DOD has clear responsibilities to address TCE because it is 
subject to EPA's regulatory standard, DOD's responsibilities are less 
definite for perchlorate due to the lack of such a standard. 
Nonetheless, perchlorate's designation by DOD as an emerging contaminant 
has led to some significant control actions. These actions have included 
responding to requests by EPA and state environmental authorities, which 
have used a patchwork of statutes, regulations, and general oversight 
authorities to address perchlorate contamination. Pursuant to its Clean 
Water Act authorities, for example, Texas required the Navy to reduce 
perchlorate levels in wastewater discharges at the McGregor Naval 
Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant to 4 parts per billion (ppb), the 
lowest level at which perchlorate could be detected at the time. In 
addition, in the absence of a federal perchlorate standard, at least 
nine states have established nonregulatory action levels or advisories 
for perchlorate ranging from 1 ppb to 51 ppb. Nevada, for example, 
required the Kerr-McGee Chemical site in Henderson to treat groundwater 
and reduce perchlorate releases to 18 ppb, which is Nevada's
action level for perchlorate.

While nonenforceable guidance had existed previously, it was not until 
EPA adopted its 1989 TCE standard that many DOD facilities began to take 
concrete action to control the contaminant. According to EPA, for 
example, 46 sites at Camp Lejeune have since been identified for TCE 
cleanup. The Navy and EPA have selected remedies for 30 of those sites, 
and the remaining 16 are under active investigation. Regarding 
perchlorate, in the absence of a federal standard DOD has implemented 
its own policies on sampling and cleanup, most recently with its 2006 
Policy on DOD Required Actions Related to Perchlorate. The policy 
applies broadly to DOD's active and closed installations and formerly 
used defense sites within the United States and its territories. It 
requires testing for perchlorate and certain cleanup actions and directs 
the department to comply with applicable federal or state promulgated 
standards, whichever is more stringent. The policy notes, that DOD has 
established 24 ppb as the current level of concern for managing 
perchlorate until the promulgation of a formal standard by the states 
and/or EPA.

To download the entire 260KB, 22-page report as a PDF file, go to
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1042T.



--


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


_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/military