|
WASHINGTON - Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Harry Reid (D-NV) are demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency lift the agency-wide gag order on discussing perchlorate, a thyroid toxin increasingly found in water supplies nationwide, and provide the public with crucial information about perchlorate's health risks. Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal reported that EPA staff has been forbidden from publicly discussing pollution from perchlorate until the National Academy of Sciences completes its review of the contaminant, a process that could take six to 18 months. Studies have already established, however, that even in small quantities perchlorate can cause thyroid problems, including tumors, in adults. In infants and children it disrupts the mental and physical development tied to proper thyroid function. Since perchlorate is a salt, it dissolves easily in water and leaches into the water supply. Two recent reports have suggested that the toxin may be showing up in agricultural products because of contaminated water. In a letter sent to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman late yesterday, the senators said that, since the public health effects of perchlorate poisoning pose critical questions in many current congressional debates, it is unconscionable to silence EPA staff from discussing the matter. In particular, the senators asked Whitman for a briefing on perchlorate contamination before the Senate Armed Services Committee reauthorizes Defense Department spending on May 6. The Pentagon has requested that Congress relieve it of its legal obligation to clean water supplies that have been contaminated by perchlorate at Defense Department installations. "We believe that it is essential that EPA's public health experts be allowed to comment on the dangers posed by perchlorate pollution as we consider the Defense Department's request for an exemption," the letter said. "In particular, we request that EPA public health experts provide us with their views on the current state of the science on perchlorate and whether the levels found at sites that have been contaminated by Defense Department facilities present a risk to public health." Senator Boxer has introduced two bills addressing the problems of perchlorate. One directs the EPA to come up with an enforceable standard by July 2004, and the other establishes a public right-to-know on perchlorate contamination and usage. The full text of the letter is below. May 1, 2003 Ms. Christine Todd Whitman
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460-2090 Dear Administrator Whitman: We write today to express our grave concerns over recent reports that EPA staff have been forbidden from publicly discussing pollution from perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel. The idea of gagging public officials charged with protecting public health in the midst of a public debate is noxious on its face. But it is especially troubling in this case given the significant threat that perchlorate pollution poses to the well being of the American people. As you know, this supposed gag order was first reported in an article in the Wall Street Journal on April 28th, which stated as follows: "[T]he White House Office of Management and Budget intervened last month to delay further regulatory action on perchlorate, by referring the health debate to the National Academy of Sciences for review, according to people familiar with the matter. Pending that study, which could take an additional six to 18 months, the EPA ordered its scientists and regulators not to speak about perchlorate, said Suzanne Ackerman, an EPA spokeswoman. "The gag order prevented EPA scientists from commenting or elaborating Friday on the two lettuce studies, which show lettuce, available in U.S. supermarkets, appears to absorb and concentrate perchlorate from polluted irrigation water in significant amounts. Other scientists familiar with the studies said both are limited in scope and are only suggestive, not conclusive, on the question of whether Americans are consuming perchlorate in food."
(Peter Waldman, "EPA Bans Staff from Discussing Issue of Perchlorate Pollution," Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2003.)
As you also know, perchlorate pollution is a serious and unresolved issue in many policy debates ongoing in the United States Senate -- none of which will wait for the six to eighteen months that may be required to complete the NAS study. Studies have already shown that this chemical, even in small doses, can disrupt thyroid function and impair infant development. Communities throughout the nation are being saddled with huge cleanup costs to remove dangerous levels of the chemical from their water supplies. This week's revelations have suggested that the situation could be even worse than previously thought, as perchlorate may have been absorbed into produce that was irrigated with perchlorate-contaminated water, thereby opening a second exposure pathway to food consumers. Most pressing, the Defense Department has requested that the Congress relieve it of its legal obligations to clean water supplies that have been contaminated by perchlorate from Defense Department installations. You have commented, most recently in a March 10th letter, that you do not agree with the Pentagon that such an exemption is necessary to ensure our military's readiness. Nonetheless, the Pentagon appears to be pushing forward with its attempt to exempt itself from cleanup requirements, and is seeking to push an exemption through as part of the Defense Department reauthorization bill that is scheduled to be considered next week in the Senate Armed Services Committee. In light of this, it is unconscionable that EPA's public health experts, whose job is to protect the American people from such toxins, have been barred from commenting on the dangers posed by perchlorate exposure. We demand that this gag order be lifted, and that EPA public health experts provide us with their views on the current state of the science on perchlorate and whether the levels found at sites that have been contaminated by Defense Department facilities present a risk to public health. We would like to schedule a briefing on this topic before the Senate Armed Services Committee markup is scheduled to begin on May 6, 2003. Please contact Tim Profeta in Senator Lieberman's office at 202/224-5016 to set up a time for such a briefing. We appreciate your attention to this request and your continued willingness to inform the legislative process with the best science available. We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Joseph I. Lieberman
United States Senator Barbara Boxer
United States Senator Harry Reid
United States Senator -30-
|
