Under White House pressure, EPA backs away from regulating rocket-fuel pollution in drinking water

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is expected to rule as early as today that it won't set a drinking-water safety standard for perchlorate, a chemical found in rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women, babies and young children, the Washington Post reports:

According to a near-final document obtained by The Washington Post, the EPA's "preliminary regulatory determination" -- which was extensively edited by White House officials -- marks the final step in a six-year-old battle between career EPA scientists who advocate regulating the chemical and White House and Pentagon officials who oppose it. The document estimates that up to 16.6 million Americans are exposed to perchlorate at a level many scientists consider unsafe; independent researchers, using federal and state data, put the number at 20 million to 40 million.

Most perchlorate contamination in U.S. drinking water comes from improper disposal by rocket test sites, military bases and chemical plants. A cleanup could run into the billions of dollars, and defense contractors have threatened to sue the Defense Department to help pay for one, according to the paper.

As we reported earlier this year, a May 2005 study [pdf] by the Government Accountability Office found almost 400 perchlorate-contaminated sites across the United States. There are at least 118 such sites in Texas -- more than in any other state. The GAO report also identified perchlorate-contaminated sites in other states across the South, including seven in both Alabama and North Carolina; six in Florida; four each in Arkansas, South Carolina and Virginia; three in Georgia; two each in Louisiana and Tennessee; and one each in Mississippi and West Virginia.
 

Map showing nationwide perchlorate contamination from May 2005 GAO study titled "Perchlorate: A System to Track Sampling and Cleanup Results Is Needed." Click on image for a larger version.

While much of the perchlorate contamination is on or near military installations, it also affects municipal water systems in heavily populated areas. For example, drinking water from the Texas city of Levelland is contaminated with perchlorate at levels of 123 parts per billion, while drinking water from the Atlantic Beach municipal system in Duval County, Fla. contains 200 ppb.

According to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group, levels of perchlorate in tap water even as low as 4 ppb will cause the average two-year-old to exceed the EPA's safe exposure level for the chemical.