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n a last-ditch effort to avoid regulating widespread perchlorate contamination of drinking water, the Bush Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is calling for yet another blue-ribbon study of the toxic rocket fuel component and widespread pollutant. While the work of the National Academy of Sciences is highly respected, the EPA leadership's attempt to have NAS conduct a new review of perchlorate has to be seen as nothing more than an effort to dodge the issue and buy time for the defense, aerospace and chemical industries, which have been lobbying aggressively to avoid millions in perchlorate clean-up costs. "We know enough about perchlorate's thyroid-disrupting properties to understand that our government has to address this danger immediately," said Dr. Anila Jacob, Senior Scientist with Environmental Working Group (EWG). "EPA has fought every call for a safety standard for perchlorate in drinking water, prompting Congress to introduce measures compelling the agency to do so. Now, with less than two weeks left in power, the Bush team has come up with a last-minute ploy - another study that will amount to a delaying action."

Congressman David Dreier, R-San Dimas, kicked off the 111th Congress today by reintroducing legislation to provide funds for ongoing perchlorate clean-up in San Gabriel Valley groundwater. The measure would increase by $61.2 million federal funds in the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund, which is used throughout the region for cleanup of perchlorate, a chemical in rocket fuel and fireworks. Under the bill, the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority would receive $50 million and the Central Basin Municipal Water District would receive $11.2 million. perchlorate can reduce the production of thyroid hormones, which in fetuses and infants are critical for normal growth and development of the central nervous system, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Therefore, pregnant women and infants are at greatest risk if exposed to perchlorate.

Some people have been kicking up an awful lot of fuss about the EPA's decision to not regulate the amount of perchlorate found in drinking water. If you don't track hazardous waste in the environment as obsessively as we do, perchlorate is an explosive used in rocket propellant and fireworks that has been detected in the water supplies of 35 states. It's also shown up in leafy vegetables irrigated with Colorado River water, and in milk from California cows, indicating that perchlorate can disperse and concentrate itself in everything from the environment, to the food we eat, to our own bodies. No studies have yet been released on the chemical's effect on aquatic life, but we do know it's hazardous to humans. perchlorate, according to the FDA, disrupts thyroid hormone function. Fetuses and infants are particularly at risk because thyroid hormones are crucial to normal central nervous system growth and development.

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to re-evaluate the rocket fuel chemical perchlorate, once made near Lake Mead, because of its potential health impacts on infants and children. Under the Bush administration, the EPA made a preliminary decision not to regulate perchlorate in drinking water. In the 1990s scientists discovered perchlorate from two chemical plants in Henderson in Las Vegas Wash and Lake Mead waters. Lake Mead supplies 90 percent of Las Vegas Valley's drinking water.

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to re-evaluate the rocket fuel chemical perchlorate, once made near Lake Mead, because of its potential health impacts on infants and children. Under the Bush administration, the EPA made a preliminary decision not to regulate perchlorate in drinking water. In the 1990s scientists discovered perchlorate from two chemical plants in Henderson in Las Vegas Wash and Lake Mead waters. Lake Mead supplies 90 percent of Las Vegas Valley's drinking water.

The state is combing old water records to determine whether highly contaminated groundwater -- which now stretches for miles from an industrial site in Rialto -- caused illnesses among residents in the many decades before it was discovered, health officials said during a community meeting Wednesday night. In 1997, three wells were found to have high levels of perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, an industrial solvent, which seeped into the soil and underground water. Water was not tested for perchlorate before then. The source is a 160-acre site north of Interstate 210, between Alder and Locust avenues, where private companies and government agencies stored, tested and manufactured munitions, rocket motors and fireworks. It is the Inland region's largest uncontrolled plume of perchlorate in a drinking-water supply.

The state is combing old water records to determine whether highly contaminated groundwater -- which now stretches for miles from an industrial site in Rialto -- caused illnesses among residents in the many decades before it was discovered, health officials said during a community meeting Wednesday night. In 1997, three wells were found to have high levels of perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, an industrial solvent, which seeped into the soil and underground water. Water was not tested for perchlorate before then. The source is a 160-acre site north of Interstate 210, between Alder and Locust avenues, where private companies and government agencies stored, tested and manufactured munitions, rocket motors and fireworks. It is the Inland region's largest uncontrolled plume of perchlorate in a drinking-water supply.

After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decided not to set a standard for perchlorate in drinking water, Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, released the following statement. perchlorate is an ingredient in explosives that can interfere with the thyroid gland. "I am very disappointed by the EPA's decision to not regulate the level of perhclorate found in drinking water. Scientific evidence points to the fact that perchlorate is harmful to humans if consumed in drinking water, and this lack of action shows a stunning disregard for the public health of America's communitie

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has yet to formally release its preliminary decision on setting a national standard for perchlorate in drinking water, but recent news coverage on EPA's draft document has made the agency's intentions well known. What has not been included in the recent coverage is that this preliminary decision on perchlorate is based on a review of the best available science, which spans more than five decades, as well as EPA's own guidelines. As such, the public should understand this draft determination represents a well-considered, scientifically-based and reasonable approach which takes into account perchlorate regulations that other states have already implemented.

"Knowing how salt travels in water is easy, since it dissolves quickly and evenly. But determining where groundwater carries that salt isn't as simple. Local and state officials whose job it is to keep track of and remove the toxic salt perchlorate are leaning on science to find out how far and fast the Santa Clarita Valley's underground water is traveling - and taking the toxin with it. State and local water officials are redoubling efforts to track the spread of perchlorate, in light of the discovery last year of the salt at Well 201 in Valencia, owned by the Valencia Water Company. A state health official said the finding was a surprise, although local water officials say the discovery was expected. Valencia Water has been testing water from Well 201 every month since first finding perchlorate there in August 2010."

According to a report by the Organic Consumers Association, a toxic chemical that is a byproduct of rocket fuel is rapidly poisoning the food and water supply in the United States. Known as perchlorate, this chemical has been found in 93% of the nation's milk and lettuce supply in a recent FDA study. It has also been found in the drinking water for at least 22 states at extremely alarming levels. Perhaps the scariest statistic is that perchlorate has been found in the breast milk of 97% of the mothers who were tested.

Perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel that contaminates drinking water at sites in at least 35 states, will not be regulated at the national level the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided. The agency announced its preliminary decision not to regulate Perchlorate in drinking water late Friday. Instead, the EPA said in a statement that it is "committed to working with states and localities to ensure public health is protected."

RIALTO - Since perchlorate was discovered in the local water supply in 1997, Rialto has spent $26 million on its effort to get the contamination cleaned up. perchlorate and other chemicals are flowing through the water from industrial sites used to manufacture rockets and fireworks in the decades following World War II. The military moved munitions to the area after the attack on Pearl Harbor stoked fear about the consequences of leaving weaponry on the coast.

One of the companies accused of polluting the drinking water in the Rialto area has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency saying the agency is withholding evidence that supports the company's case. Charlotte-based Goodrich Corp. says in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that EPA has modelling showing the company is not responsible for the contamination. The EPA is in the process of declaring a 160-acre portion of Rialto a Superfund site because various chemicals, including perchlorate, are flowing through the city and toward Colton and Riverside.

A U.S. Senate environment committee has passed two bills that aim to reduce the chemical contaminant perchlorate in the nation's water supplies. The legislation, however, likely comes too late to help residents of the La Quinta Ridge Mobile Home Estates in Indio, officials at the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said.

The Environmental Protection Agency, under pressure from the White House and the Pentagon, is poised to rule as early as today that it will not set a drinking-water safety standard for perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women, newborns and young children across the nation.

Prodded by environmental groups, California health officials said they will re-evaluate the health effects of a rocket fuel chemical, taking into account research that wasn't completed four years ago when they decided how much is safe in drinking water. The re-examination could lead to stricter rules for the chemical perchlorate, which has contaminated several Inland drinking water supplies.

A 160-acre site in the northern area of the city known for introducing a perchlorate plume into the local ground water supply has been added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund National Priorities List. When the listing was announced Wednesday, officials declared it as a landmark victory for Rialto residents. "This is a very victorious day for the city of Rialto, after spending $28 million to try to get these guys to do the right thing," Councilman Ed Scott said. The Superfund designation represents a commitment by the EPA to clean the site while making it eligible for government funding, said Wayne Praskins, Superfund project manager. The EPA has been developing an initial cleanup proposal that should be ready at the beginning of the year, Praskins said Friday. It will cost between $10 million and $15 million to construct the facilities needed to conduct a cleanup at the site, and $1 million per year to operate them, Praskins said.

Two Saugus water wells were shut down more than a decade ago because they were contaminated with perchlorate, a toxic byproduct of rocket fuel production. But soon, they might be running again. Within about four months, the Castaic Lake Water Agency expects to open a new, $20 million water treatment plant and pipeline system that will pump safe drinking water from those wells. The plant is set to open in March, said Brian Folsom, engineering and operations manager for the water agency. The state Department of Public Health still has to certify the plant. It represents a step in an arduous cleanup process that has gone on for years - and has several more to go.

Two Saugus water wells were shut down more than a decade ago because they were contaminated with perchlorate, a toxic byproduct of rocket fuel production. But soon, they might be running again. Within about four months, the Castaic Lake Water Agency expects to open a new, $20 million water treatment plant and pipeline system that will pump safe drinking water from those wells. The plant is set to open in March, said Brian Folsom, engineering and operations manager for the water agency. The state Department of Public Health still has to certify the plant. It represents a step in an arduous cleanup process that has gone on for years - and has several more to go.

More than 60 years after scientists assembled the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lethal waste is seeping from mountain burial sites and moving toward aquifers, springs and streams that provide water to 250,000 residents of northern New Mexico. Isolated on a high plateau, the Los Alamos National Laboratory seemed an ideal place to store a bomb factory's deadly debris. But the heavily fractured mountains haven't contained the waste, some of which has trickled down hundreds of feet to the edge of the Rio Grande, one of the most important water sources in the Southwest. So far, the level of contamination in the Rio Grande has not been high enough to raise health concerns. But the monitoring of runoff in canyons that drain into the river has found unsafe concentrations of organic compounds such as perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket propellent, and various radioactive byproducts of nuclear fission.

More than 60 years after scientists assembled the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lethal waste is seeping from mountain burial sites and moving toward aquifers, springs and streams that provide water to 250,000 residents of northern New Mexico. Isolated on a high plateau, the Los Alamos National Laboratory seemed an ideal place to store a bomb factory's deadly debris. But the heavily fractured mountains haven't contained the waste, some of which has trickled down hundreds of feet to the edge of the Rio Grande, one of the most important water sources in the Southwest. So far, the level of contamination in the Rio Grande has not been high enough to raise health concerns. But the monitoring of runoff in canyons that drain into the river has found unsafe concentrations of organic compounds such as perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket propellent, and various radioactive byproducts of nuclear fission.

Boeing Co., the owner of a former rocket engine and nuclear test site south of Simi Valley, has been ordered to remove contaminated soil to keep pollutants found in storm water from running off the site. Heavy metals, perchlorate and other toxic materials have been found in stormwater running off the Santa Susana Field Laboratory at two outfalls that drain into Dayton Canyon Creek and the Arroyo Simi.