| New Jersey backs off plans to test water supplies for a chemical found in rocket fuel and fertilizer |
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Sunday, April 25, 2010 Last updated: Sunday April 25, 2010, 10:08 AM BY JAMES M. O'NEILL The Record NorthJersey.com STAFF WRITER The Christie administration has backed off plans to require testing and treatment of drinking water for a chemical ingredient of fertilizer and rocket fuel that has been found in some private and public wells in North Jersey and which poses health risks for pregnant women and infants even with short-term exposure. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin angered some environmentalists when he chose not to sign a proposed statewide rule that would have set a limit on how much perchlorate can remain in drinking water. The rule would have required public water systems to test for perchlorate and treat the water if levels exceeded 5 parts per billion. The rule would also have required property owners with private wells to test for perchlorate during real estate transactions. The New Jersey Realtors Association and the New Jersey Builders Association had opposed the rule, citing the potential financial costs to homeowners with private wells. Martin said he discussed the issue with scientists at the DEP and the federal Environmental Protection Agency before deciding against the rule that had been proposed by the prior DEP commissioner, Mark Mauriello. "I carefully weighed all the scientific evidence and potential economic impacts," Martin said in a statement. "I simply was not convinced that we had the most complete data on what the appropriate levels should be." He said the EPA is now deciding whether to regulate perchlorate nationwide and that "once we have all the data, a decision will be made." But some environmentalists said that waiting for the EPA to issue its own rule means a dangerous delay of up to four years. "Best case is that if the EPA decides later this year to regulate perchlorate, it will be another two years before they come out with the rule," said Bill Wolfe, New Jersey director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "In the meantime New Jersey homeowners could be drinking contaminated water and not know it. Three years is the key development life of a child." Variety of uses Perchlorate is a naturally occurring inorganic chemical compound. Deposits in Chile are mined and used as fertilizer in the U.S. Perchlorate is often used in the manufacture of rocket propellant. It is used in fireworks, matches, lubricating oils and air bags. The chemical has been found in more than 20 states. "Wastes from the manufacture and improper disposal of perchlorate-containing chemicals are increasingly being discovered in soil and water," the DEP notes on its website. In 2005 the National Research Council determined that perchlorate interferes with iodide uptake in the thyroid, a gland that helps regulate metabolism in adults. The thyroid also plays a major role in development of the central nervous system and skeleton in children. The council determined that an impaired thyroid in pregnant mothers could harm the fetus by causing behavior changes and delayed development and reducing the child’s learning ability. The DEP notes that "short-term exposure to perchlorate is expected to have effects similar to chronic exposure." Between 2001 and 2003, 123 New Jersey public water systems were tested by the EPA for perchlorate; 10 recorded perchlorate at rates of 4 parts per billion or higher. The maximum concentration detected was 13 parts per billion. The state DEP conducted additional tests between 2003 and 2005 and found perchlorate rates as high as 23 parts per billion in a well operated by the Park Ridge water system. The borough’s consultants concluded that a fertilizer used at a nearby greenhouse was a possible source of the contamination. Park Ridge has since addressed the perchlorate concentrations with a treatment system. The results in Park Ridge led officials to test nearby private wells in Park Ridge, Woodcliff Lake and Saddle River. At least 17 showed perchlorate concentrations above 4 parts per million, with the highest at 110 parts per billion. support for rule Duncan Carpenter, president of the Saddle River Board of Health, wrote to the DEP last month supporting the proposed perchlorate rule. He called it "an important public health protection that should be provided not only to the affected residents in our area, but also to residents in the rest of the state who may not be aware that their water supply is affected by this contaminant." In 2008, the EPA recommended that water suppliers treat for perchlorate if levels are above 15 parts per billion, but it didn’t make it a requirement. During her confirmation hearing to become EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson — the former head of New Jersey’s DEP – was questioned closely by Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on perchlorate. Boxer described the EPA’s failure to act on the perchlorate issue as "immoral." Jackson promised to review the issue swiftly. The EPA will announce its final decision on whether to set a drinking-water standard this year, EPA spokesman Dale Kemery said. Last week, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General issued a report critiquing how EPA came up with its recommendation of 15 parts per billion. The inspector general said the EPA level is "conservative and protective of human health," but said the EPA should have considered other stressors that interfere with iodide uptake in the thyroid, including thiocyanate and nitrate. The office concluded that lowering the perchlorate drinking-water limit would not lower the public’s risk in a meaningful way, and that a better way would be to increase iodide levels in the pregnant and nursing population to reduce "the frequency and severity of permanent mental deficits in children." The New Jersey Association of Realtors, among others, had voiced concern with the proposed state rule. "Our biggest concern was, we’d like to wait to see what the EPA says about what level of perchlorate is detrimental to human health, because the science isn’t there yet," said Jarrod Grasso, the Realtor group’s CEO. "It’s not that we don’t believe perchlorate is dangerous, but we just don’t know at what levels." Grasso said his group was also concerned about costs for treatment where the chemical was found in the water. He estimated that a treatment system to handle perchlorate for a typical residential well would cost $4,000 to install and $1,200 annually for maintenance. 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