Diluting standards
the us Environmental Protection Agency's (usepa) recent decision to withdraw drinking water regulations approved by the Clinton administration has sparked off strong reactions. The decision comes at a time when environmentalists are already peeved with us president George W Bush for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol.
The announcement proposes to withdraw the rule, which would have reduced the acceptable level of arsenic in water from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb. Accepting that the levels need to be lowered, Christie Whitman of the usepa, said: "The scientific indicators are unclear as to whether the standard needs to go as low as 10 ppb.' While scientists agree that the previous standards should be lowered, there is no consensus on a particular safe level, says the usepa . The agency is now going to set up an independent review to reach a consensus on the acceptable level of arsenic in water.
"The Clinton administration rushed this proposal in the midnight hour. We felt all along that it was a political decision, one that was not supported by science,' said John Grasser, spokesperson of the National Mining Association. However, former official of usepa, Chuck Fox, who helped Clinton draft the policy, said: "I am stunned. This move will jeopardise the health of millions of people and literally compromises a decade's worth of work to develop stringent public health standards. This is, in fact, a victory for the mining industry, which is a big contributor to president Bush and the Republican Party.'
"This is another example of a special interest payback to industries that gave millions of dollars as contributions towards Bush's campaign,' alleged democrat Henry A Waxman. Commenting on usepa's decision, the president of League of Conservation Voters, Deb Callahan said: "Last week Bush sent clean air standards up in smoke, this week he's selling clean water rules down the river. The Bush administration is hindering the efforts of communities across the us to reduce air pollution, clean up drinking water and protect key forests and wilderness areas from development.'
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