The EPA Makes Another BAD choice!

This afternoon I found a highly disturbing article through another blog I read on occasion, and had a minute to jump to the link and take a look. I can't say I'm shocked that the EPA has made yet another decision that disregards the health of the American people and protecting harmful practices, but this one has to be one of the worst I've heard yet.

If you don't have time to read the whole article here, this is an excerpt:

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided there's no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has fouled public water supplies around the country. EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed Monday by The Associated Press. The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists.

The EPA document says that mandating a clean-up level for perchlorate would not result in a "meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public-water systems."

Lenny Siegel, director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight in Mountain View, Calif., added: "This is an unconscionable decision not based upon science or law but on concern that a more stringent standard could cost the government significantly."

The Defense Department used perchlorate for decades in testing missiles and rockets, and most perchlorate contamination is the result of defense and aerospace activities, congressional investigators said last year.

The Pentagon could face liability if EPA set a national drinking water standard that forced water agencies around the country to undertake costly clean-up efforts. Defense officials have spent years questioning EPA's conclusions about the risks posed by perchlorate.

Yet again, an agency under the Bush administration has made the "easy" choice and let the American people down in the process. I don't know about you, but I'm counting the days until a new administration (in which those in charge actually care about the people!) comes into power...