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MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS
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New Report On Widespread Rocket Fuel Pollution In Food And Water
In
February the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released its long anticipated
report on the human health effects of perchlorates, a byproduct of rocket fuel.
Perchlorates, which are a common pollutant near military sites, have recently
been found in the water at concerning levels in 35 states as well as in 93% of
lettuce and milk.
The government funded NAS report reveals that perchlorates are roughly ten
times more toxic to humans than the Department of Defense has been claiming. Perchlorates
can inhibit thyroid function, cause birth defects and lower IQs, and are
considered particularly dangerous to children. Due to pressure on congress from
the US military complex, there are
currently no federal environmental policies regulating perchlorates.
The new NAS report recommends human exposure at no more than .0007
milligrams per kilogram of body weight. If this were developed into an actual
drinking water standard, it would translate into no more than around 20ppb for
drinking water. This is bad news for military sites and rocket fuel plants
around the country, including Henderson, Nevada, where EPA well monitoring has
found perchlorates at a level 30,000 times higher than that. Again, due to lack
of federal policy on perchlorates, this excessive pollution is currently legal.
To date, only one Senator has had the backbone to propose legislation that
would hold the military (and other perchlorate polluters) responsible for this
excessive pollution of the US food and
water supply.
Feinstein proposes legislation that would spend $200 million to identify and
clean up perchlorate sources and provide grants for technologies to clean up
existing contamination. She also plans to seek a new federal limit for perchlorate
in drinking water and hold perchlorate polluters responsible for cleanup
efforts.
"It is imperative that we reduce the perchlorate in our drinking water
and protect Californians, especially pregnant women, the unborn, infants, and
young children from this threat to their health," said Feinstein of the
bill.
¥ 2002: EPA releases draft report highlighting widespread water
contamination of a toxic rocket fuel byproduct known as perchlorate. The report
indicates that most of the pollution is coming from US military sites [Source]
¥ January 2003: Courtroom proceedings reveal that aerospace and defense
contractor Lockheed Martin was concealing documents for several years
indicating the company knew about toxic levels of percholate contamination in
the nation's vegetable produce. [Source]
¥ March 2003: California's Senator Feinstein demands the
military clean up perchlorate pollution as a matter of public safety. The
Department of Defense responds by saying it must be exempt from perchlorate
liability, as a matter of anti-terrorist "readiness." [Source].
¥ April 2003: Bush Administration puts gag order on the Environmental
Protection Agency, mandating complete silence regarding military perchlorate
pollution and human health impacts. [Source]
¥ November 2004: FDA finds perchlorate in 93% of lettuce and milk samples
across the nation. Bush Administration requests no regulatory action take place
until the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concludes investigation of human
health implications. [Source]
¥ January 2005: NAS announces perchlorates are as much as ten times as toxic
as what the Department of Defense had been claiming. Senator Feinstein of California announces forthcoming bill proposal
to create federal perchlorate regulations and to allocate funding for cleanup
of existing contamination.