MARCH 1999 - PERCHLORATE CONFERENCE IN ONTARIO, CA

On March 18-19 the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other utilities held a conference on perchlorate contamination of drinking water.  The purpose of the conference was to prepare other water purveyors for the public concern expected when perchlorate appears on drinking water consumer confidence reports.  Amongst the new developments:

HUMAN TESTING:  Dr. Braverman s team at Harvard and Dr. Brabant s team at Munich are currently administering radioactive perchlorate to volunteers. A key finding from these studies will be the amount of radioactive chloride found in the test subject s urine --  if radioactive Cl- is consistently found in the parts-per-billion range, then perchlorate may be systematically reacting with human enzymes.  Analysis of the initial results has led to the need for further testing, so that the US EPA s external peer review for a new perchlorate reference dose has been rescheduled from August, 1999 to January, 2000.

FOOD SUPPLY:  Last month the Chilean nitrate deposits that are mined for fertilizer were tested for perchlorate.  The average concentration of ClO4- was found to be .4%  As a consequence, a new perchlorate survey of high-nitrate aquifers in agricultural areas will be conducted this summer by California EPA and the US EPA.  California regulators will focus on the San Joaquin Valley, while the federal authorities will be examining groundwater in Kansas and Nebraska.  For several months the Department of Defense has been testing food crops for perchlorate accumulation, but so far military scientists have declined to share the initial results of these experiments with the US EPA.

LITIGATION:  Southern California's discovery of water contamination by perchlorate, nitrosodimethylamine, and 1,4 dioxane has led to something of a legal firestorm.  In Redlands, CA alone 6 separate class action suits involving hundreds of plaintiffs have been filed.  These suits are independent of the individuals who are claiming personal injury. Water utilities won an initial ruling in district court that they were not liable for the problem, and this question is now being deliberated in appeals court.  Water purveyors also sought relief from liability from the California state legislature, but could not find a politician willing to sponsor their proposed law.

Larry Ladd

Community Representative
Aerojet Health Assessment Site Team
Rancho Cordova, California