[CPEO-MEF] PERCHLORATE: "What broke the Safe Drinking Water Act?"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

What broke the Safe Drinking Water Act?

By ANNIE SNIDER 
Politico
May 10, 2017


It was 1997 when Californians began to worry in earnest about a chemical called perchlorate. For decades, the ingredient in jet fuel had been seeping from missile factories and rocket testing sites into groundwater across the state and, thanks to a new testing method, it was suddenly clear it had reached hundreds of drinking water wells. Soon, researchers discovered that the toxic chemical had reached Lake Mead, the picturesque reservoir that supplies water to 25 million people in the American Southwest and irrigates the fields that grow the lion’s share of the nation’s winter produce. 

Even in trace amounts, perchlorate can be dangerous, especially for pregnant women and young children. The chemical prevents the thyroid from absorbing iodine, which the gland needs to produce hormones that are critical for brain development. Although the military and its contractors dispute the level at which harm occurs, the companies that used the perchlorate settled a cascade of lawsuits with California communities and residents as the extent of contamination came to light, paying tens of millions of dollars toward compensation and cleanup efforts.


…

For the entire article, see
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/05/10/safe-drinking-water-perchlorate-000434

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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