U.S. Water News Online
LAS VEGAS -- A Nevada congressman has gained House backing for a Pentagon study of the health effects of perchlorate, a toxic rocket fuel that has seeped into Lake Mead.
Rep. Jon Porter, R-Las Vegas, tacked the amendment onto a $400 billion bill that authorizes defense programs in the coming year.
Also in the bill are provisions directing the Defense Department to get a handle on urban sprawl affecting Nellis Air Force Base north of Las Vegas.
The Senate also was nearing approval of a corresponding defense bill that contains perchlorate provisions. It also requests the Pentagon to project its needs for federal land and airspace for future training.
The bills will be considered by a conference committee and completed later this year.
Porter's amendment called for the Pentagon to form a science panel to recommend safe levels of perchlorate in drinking water. Lake Mead is the primary source of southern Nevada drinking water.
``We want to make sure we have the right information to treat our water,'' the Porter said.
The Environmental Protection Agency is determining federal safety levels for the toxic substance, which scientists have linked to thyroid disorders even when consumed at low levels. Porter said the amendment would not delay the EPA's work.
In Nevada, state officials have ordered Henderson defense contractors to remove the toxin from groundwater, which in one case has made its way into Lake Mead through the Las Vegas Wash.
Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., have inserted a perchlorate study into the Senate bill.
``Is more science bad? What if the first study misses something?'' Ensign said.
Opponents of further perchlorate study include Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. He said it is unnecessary because the National Academy of Sciences already is studying perchlorate health effects.
Reid also criticized the credibility a Defense-commissioned study would have because the Pentagon is facing huge costs in perchlorate remediation.
Reid added a measure to the bill that directs the Pentagon to hand over its 2002 survey of its active and closed military installations for possible perchlorate contamination.
The Senate bill directs the Pentagon to contract with the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a study that must be completed by June 1, 2005.
The House bill also directs the Pentagon to study urban encroachment at Nellis and other bases.
A General Accounting Office study last month said Las Vegas sprawl was hampering Nellis operations.
``Safety zones are being encroached upon that really make safety an issue,'' said Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. ``Nellis needs to acquire developed land around it.''
``If we want to have America's No. 1 training base continue to train pilots, we have to work very hard to make sure the issue of encroachment does not take the base off the map,'' he said.
Meanwhile, the Senate bill directs the Pentagon to study all of its test and training ranges to determine future land, air and sea needs.
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