Perchlorate Chemical

Perchlorate contaminating the Santa Clarita Valley's underground water supply is to be cleaned up under an estimated $100-million settlement of a federal lawsuit against former and present owners of a shuttered munitions and fireworks factory announced Wednesday. The suit was filed by four area water agencies in November 2000 against Whittaker Corp., Remediation Financial Inc.

State water officials launched an investigation Tuesday into how a chemical used in rocket fuel and munitions found its way into Barstow's residential water supply, as costs to address the crisis mounted. Lauri Kemper, assistant executive director of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, said, "We've got three teams of investigators sampling private wells in the area as part of an effort to get a sense of the extent of the contamination in the groundwater, and where it originated.

The discovery of high levels of the toxic chemical perchlorate on a troubled parcel in Santa Clarita may lead to the source of contamination that shut down five drinking water wells in the area, according to an official with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control. Perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems in humans, has been known to exist for years at the site, once home to a munitions factory.

Federal regulators said they don't plan to try to rid drinking water supplies of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that's been found in 35 states. The Environmental Protection Agency will take public comment for 30 days before finalizing its decision not to regulate the contaminant, perchlorate, in drinking water. The announcement provoked outrage from Democratic lawmakers and a lawsuit threat from environmental groups. Particularly widespread in California and Texas, perchlorate has been found to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses.

In a long-awaited report, a national panel of scientists wrote Monday that perchlorate, an ingredient of solid rocket fuel that has contaminated drinking water and food throughout the country, poses a public health risk at low doses but not at amounts as low as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had calculated.

State environmental regulators Thursday published safety guidelines for a toxic ingredient of rocket fuel called perchlorate, positioning California as the first state in the nation to regulate the pollutant that has infiltrated some drinking water supplies. Laboratory studies have shown that perchlorate can affect the thyroid gland's production of hormones critical to early childhood development. The guidelines were mandated by state law and required to be published this week by court order.

A state regulatory agency will hold a public meeting tonight at Simi Valley City Hall to discuss its latest efforts to ensure that Boeing cleans up perchlorate contamination at its Rocketdyne testing site.

Two bills designed to protect California drinking water supplies from contamination by the residue of Cold War rockets and other military munitions were signed Monday by Gov. Gray Davis. The legislation will make clear that regional water quality boards can order dischargers of the chemical perchlorate to provide clean water to replace polluted supplies and to keep track of current inventories of the rocket fuel ingredient.

Despite opposition from the Pentagon, the Schwarzenegger administration is planning to issue safety guidelines Friday for ammonium perchlorate, a toxic ingredient of rocket fuel, munitions and fireworks that has tainted drinking water supplies in 29 states. The pending guidelines would make California the first state in the nation to regulate perchlorate. The federal government has yet to act. Environmentalists, however, have criticized California's pending standards as being too lenient.

Concerned about the prevalence of perchlorate in California's water supplies, two state lawmakers are sponsoring legislation that would require companies to reveal whether they have possessed large quantities of the toxic rocket fuel ingredient at any time over the past half-century. Defense contractors are already lining up in opposition, arguing that such a regulatory standard would be impossible for them to meet. The legislation by state Sens.

Rialto city officials have declared a state of emergency, citing concerns about a shrinking water supply in danger of further contamination by dangerous chemicals. The City Council voted on the declaration Tuesday in an attempt to secure state funding to halt the spread of industrial perchlorate in city groundwater. The growing, six-mile-long chemical plume in the north end of the San Bernardino County city contaminates 360 million gallons of groundwater each month.

Perchlorate contaminating the Santa Clarita Valley's underground water supply is to be cleaned up under an estimated $100-million settlement of a federal lawsuit against former and present owners of a shuttered munitions and fireworks factory announced Wednesday. The suit was filed by four area water agencies in November 2000 against Whittaker Corp., Remediation Financial Inc.

Many women exposed to perchlorate, the rocket fuel chemical that has contaminated hundreds of Southern California water wells, have suppressed thyroid function, which can lead to health problems in them and abnormal brain development in their offspring, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Wednesday.

Perchlorate, a toxic ingredient of solid rocket fuel that is contaminating hundreds of wells throughout Southern California, would be limited in drinking water under a new state standard proposed Monday. The California Department of Health Services plans to set a drinking water standard of 6 parts per billion, the same as a goal the state established two years ago. The standard, however, would be enforceable, whereas the existing goal is not.

Warning that babies are especially vulnerable, a federal panel of scientists has lambasted the Environmental Protection Agency's health goal for a toxic chemical that has widely contaminated drinking water and foods, particularly in Southern California.

State regulators on Friday reassured residents of central Simi Valley there was no health risk from the trace amounts of perchlorate found in well water blended with their drinking water. Southern California Water Co., which serves 13,000 homes and businesses, about 40% of Simi Valley, said this week that since last August, it has detected minute levels of the contaminant, which has been linked to thyroid damage. The chemical is used in road flares, fertilizer and as a rocket propellant.

Rialto city officials have declared a state of emergency, citing concerns about a shrinking water supply in danger of further contamination by dangerous chemicals. The City Council voted on the declaration Tuesday in an attempt to secure state funding to halt the spread of industrial perchlorate in city groundwater. The growing, six-mile-long chemical plume in the north end of the San Bernardino County city contaminates 360 million gallons of groundwater each month.

Federal regulators said they don't plan to try to rid drinking water supplies of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that's been found in 35 states. The Environmental Protection Agency will take public comment for 30 days before finalizing its decision not to regulate the contaminant, perchlorate, in drinking water. The announcement provoked outrage from Democratic lawmakers and a lawsuit threat from environmental groups. Particularly widespread in California and Texas, perchlorate has been found to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses.

Scientists on Tuesday reported that perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel, was contaminating virtually all samples of women's breast milk and its levels were found to be, on average, five times greater than in cow's milk. The contaminant, which originates mostly at defense industry plants, previously had been detected in various food and water supplies around the country.

In a long-awaited report, a national panel of scientists wrote Monday that perchlorate, an ingredient of solid rocket fuel that has contaminated drinking water and food throughout the country, poses a public health risk at low doses but not at amounts as low as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had calculated.