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By Edward Walsh
Arsenic occurs naturally in rocks, soil,
water, air, plants and animals. According to the EPA, international
studies have linked long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking
water to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal
passages, liver and prostate.
Seven months after it set off a political
firestorm by suspending the Clinton administration's toughened
standard for acceptable levels of naturally occurring arsenic
in drinking water, the Bush administration announced October
31 that it is adopting the same standard of 10
parts arsenic per billion parts water.
In a letter to key congressional appropriations
committee members announcing the decision, Christine Todd
Whitman, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
said the standard "will improve the safety of drinking
water for millions of Americans and better protect against
the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes."
But administration critics greeted the
announcement by saying the EPA had no choice but to retain
the 10-parts-per-billion standard. They argued that a recent
study commissioned by the administration showed that it should
have adopted an even tougher standard of 3 parts per billion.
"They're
moving in the right direction, but they did it because they
had no choice," said Sen.
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
Boxer and others said a National Academy
of Sciences study released in September concluded that an
arsenic standard of 10 parts per billion would produce a cancer
risk that far exceeds what the EPA considers acceptable.
"We think that obviously they recognized
the writing on the wall and decided to stick with 10 parts
per billion rather than follow the new science that shows
they should go below 10," said Erik D. Olson, a lawyer
with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The EPA asked for the study in March when
it suspended one of the last acts of the Clinton administration,
a tightening of the long-standing federal standard for arsenic
levels in drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts
per billion.
Whitman said at the time that the Clinton
rule had been hastily adopted without adequate scientific
study or consideration of costs to small communities that
would be forced to change their water filtration systems.
But suspension of the Clinton standard
caused an uproar and led to portrayals of the new Bush administration
as hostile to the environment, and Bush's job approval ratings
slipped significantly in public opinion surveys. The House
and the Senate later adopted measures requiring the administration
to adopt an arsenic standard of no more than 10 parts per
billion.
Then came the National Academy of Sciences
report, which Olson said showed that a standard of 10 parts
per billion resulted in a cancer risk "far higher than
anyone had previously estimated."
According to Olson, the study said that
exposure to water with arsenic levels of 10 parts per billion
is associated with a risk of 30 cancer deaths per 10,000 people
drinking the water, which would be 30
times the EPA's acceptable rate of one death per 10,000 drinkers.
"They ordered a new study as a delaying
tactic, and it came back and bit them in the arsenic,"
Boxer said.
But Mike Keegan, an analyst with the National
Rural Water Association, which he said represents 22,000 small
communities across the country, said there is "an
incredible amount of uncertainty" even about
the National Academy of Sciences report on arsenic levels
and that, with such uncertainty, the communities that will
be directly affected should be allowed to decide what is an
acceptable level of arsenic in their drinking water.
Keegan predicted that the tougher standard
will lead to substantial increases in water charges in many
towns, as they purchase improved filtration systems. "You've
taken a public health step backward," he said. "All
of these people have limited funds to pay for health costs.
Each time you force them to raise their water bills you limit
their choices of where they would like to put their limited
public health funds."
Boxer said she will push for legislation
forcing the EPA to adopt "the lowest level that is achievable"
for arsenic in drinking water. Olson said that is considered
to be 3 parts per billion.
The EPA said that water systems across
the country will have to be in compliance with the 10-parts-per-billion
standard by 2006.
In her letter to Congress, Whitman said that almost 97 percent
of the water systems that will be affected by the new standard
serve fewer than 10,000 people each.
She said the EPA plans to provide $20
million during the next two years for research and development
of cost-effective technologies to help small water systems
meet the standard.
Washington
Post November 1, 2001; Page A31
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