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News :: Agriculture : Children : Civil & Human Rights : Environment : Government Secrecy : Health : Media |
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STOP THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX FROM POLLUTING OUR FOOD & WATER |
Current rating: 0 |
by Organic Consumers Association
(No verified email address) |
18 Jan 2005
Modified: 09:13:31 PM |
The News-Gazette published one of its typical "happy" news stories about the perchlorate issue on page B-1 of the Tuesday, Jan. 18 issue. It stated that perchlorate is not nearly as dangerous as first feared. What it did NOT state is that the military has been insisting that perchlorate is not a big problem. The NAS study was cited, but in a deceptive way that implied that the concerns raised are minor. There was no mention that the NAS study had, indeed, found that percholate is 10 times more toxic than the military has asserted.
Another questionable assertion in the article is that people in Illinois had little to fear from perchlorate contamination. The fact is that the most contaminated areas of the US are also prime algrcultural areas. Where do you think your lettuce comes from? It sure isn't Illinois in the dead of winter, but areas of California and Arizona that use heavily-contaminated water to grow food we consume in Illinois. |
This week the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released its long awaited report on perchlorates, a byproduct of rocket fuel that has contaminated water, vegetables, and dairy products across the United States. Perchlorates, recklessly discharged into streams and rivers near military bases and weapons manufacturing facilities, have contaminated drinking water in 35 states, and have been detected in measurable amounts in 93% of lettuce and milk samples as well, including organic products.
The government funded NAS study has found that perchlorates are roughly ten times more toxic to humans than the Department of Defense has been claiming. Perchlorates can inhibit thyroid function, cause birth defects, and lower IQs. Perchlorates are considered particularly dangerous to children.
In monitoring wells across the U.S., scientists have found perchlorate levels as high as 30,000 times what the NAS report indicates would be "safe" exposure. Due to pressure exerted on Congress by military officials and defense contractors, there are currently no federal restrictions or tolerance levels regulating perchlorates. To date, only one Senator, Diane Feinstein from California, has had the backbone to propose legislation that would clean up perchlorate pollution and make the military (and other perchlorate polluters) pay for this clean-up.
Please send a quick letter urging Congress to support Senator Feinstein's (CA) bill to create federal perchlorate safety regulations, and to allocate funding for its clean-up. Take action here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/perchlorate.htm
21st CENTURY TIMELINE OF U.S. ROCKET FUEL POLLUTION SCANDAL
# 2002: EPA releases draft report highlighting widespread water contamination of a toxic rocket fuel byproduct known as perchlorate. The report indicates that most of the pollution is coming from U.S. military sites. [http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ccl/perchlorate/perchlorate.html]
# January 2003 : Courtroom proceedings reveal that aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin was concealing documents for several years indicating the company knew about toxic levels of percholate contamination in the nation's vegetable produce. [http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/030503_toxic_lettuce.cfm]
# March 2003: California's Senator Feinstein demands the military clean up perchlorate pollution as a matter of public safety. The Department of Defense responds by saying it should be exempt from perchlorate liability, as a matter of anti-terrorist "readiness." [http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/lettuce042903.cfm].
#April 2003: Bush Administration puts gag order on the Environmental Protection Agency, mandating complete silence regarding military perchlorate pollution and human health impacts. [http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/lettuce042903.cfm]
# November 2004: FDA finds perchlorate in 93% of lettuce and milk samples across the nation. Bush Administration requests no regulatory action take place until the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concludes investigation of human health implications. [http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/lettuce120104.cfm]
# January 2005: NAS announces perchlorates are as much as ten times as toxic as what the Department of Defense had been claiming. Senator Feinstein of California announces forthcoming bill proposal to create federal perchlorate regulations and to allocate funding for clean-up of existing contamination. [http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/perchlorate010605.cfm] |
See also:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm
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