From: | CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org> |
Date: | 13 Dec 2002 21:40:07 -0000 |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | [CPEO-MEF] Feinstein on Perchlorate |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday December 2, 2002 Contact: Howard Gantman or Scott Gerber 202/224-9629 http://feinstein.senate.gov Senator Feinstein Asks the Secretary of Defense and EPA Administrator for Assistance in Cleaning-up Contaminated Wells in Southern California Washington, DC ? Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today asked Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman, to provide clean-up funding and assistance to California communities where perchlorate contamination threatens their safe drinking water supplies. Because many of these contaminated sites involve former defense facilities, Senator Feinstein believes that the federal government bears a special responsibility to remedy the situation as soon as possible. In letters to the Secretary of Defense and the EPA Administrator, Senator Feinstein wrote: "The growing number of perchlorate contaminated wells is all the more alarming in the context of California's efforts to reduce its consumption of Colorado River water under the terms of the Quantification Settlement Agreement. While California water districts are working diligently to devise strategies to reduce the State's need for imported water, perchlorate contamination is threatening the native water supplies these agencies are relying upon to meet local needs. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California estimates that in its service area alone, lost well production due to perchlorate contamination could reach 57,000 acre feet annually. "The problem is particularly acute in the Inland Empire, where a seven mile long plume was discovered earlier this year. The plume, which is moving two to three inches per day, has contaminated 22 drinking water wells in western San Bernardino County, jeopardizing water supplies for approximately 500,000 local residents and business...The problem is so severe that without federal assistance, the region faces a very real possibility of water rationing or of having to supply customers with bottled water." According to recent report by the California Department of Health Services, perchlorate has been detected in 284 groundwater wells operated by 75 different water agencies throughout the state. Collectively, these agencies serve 24.8 million people, representing 71 percent of the State's population. More information on perchlorate, the primary ingredient in solid rocket propellant that is known to affect the functioning of the thyroid gland, can be found at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ccl/perchlor/perchlo.html. Copies of Senator Feinstein's letters are available on request. ### ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
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