What Ike said before perchlorate became a secret.

In March, 1964 the California Dept. of Water Resources issued Bulletin No. 133, "Folsom-East Sacramento Ground Water Investigation," where the text on page 44 states: "Certain compounds that may degrade ground waters or cannot be safely disposed of, such as ammonium and potassium perchlorate and contaminated trichloroethylene are collected and sealed in approved containers and dumped at sea in an approved dumping area" yet Table 9 of the same report shows perchlorate in Rancho Cordova's drinking water at the level of 1000-2000 ppb. The last well to be tested for perchlorate -- in February, 1963 -- was on the family ranch of anti-war activist George Waegel, now a member of the Community Advisory Group for Aerojet Superfund Site Issues.

Here are the words of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, under whom perchlorate in the environment was an open issue, as he departed office in 1961:

"Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together...Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by the task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiousity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded."