Perchlorate public safety standard should be more stringent
Dear Editor,
We have perchlorate in our water supply. This is not new information. It is there because Olin Corporation discharged by products of its manufacturing process onto a landfill which contaminated our water supply. This continued for almost 40 years and until 1990. Though the city has done its part in removing what it can from our water, it remains contaminated, we are at risk and our risk has increased.
Perchlorate disrupts normal functions of the thyroid. It interferes with iodide uptake into the thyroid gland, decreasing the availability of iodide needed for the synthesis of thyroid hormones, which is essential for metabolism and normal growth and development. Its impacts are greatest on pregnant women and their developing fetuses, infants, children and individuals who have existing low levels of thyroid hormones. Infants, children and adults exposed to perchlorate depending on the severity of the iodine deficiency include impairment in physical development, behavior, speech, hearing, vision and intelligence. Impaired brain development and lower IQ were observed in children to even mildly or moderately iodine deficient mothers according to documents placed on line by the State of Massachusetts http://www.mass.gov/dep/
water/drinking/perchfs.htm, and  http://www.
mass.gov/dep/water/drinking/perchlorate-response-to-comments.pdf.
In Morgan Hill, we closed wells and treated water if perchlorate was detected at 4 ppb. Recently the state set the maximum contaminant level (MCL) at 6 ppb. This was based upon a small state sampling of selected individuals (it was not a random sample) using a mathematical formula calculating for risk and uncertainly. We are using the formula approach because we do not have a definitive answer by research as to the safe reference dose of perchlorate. The Environmental Protection Agency, under the Bush administration, has yet to provide a national MCL.
Interesting Massachusetts adopted a MCL of 2 ppb following EPA protocol and at a level significantly less than California. The difference, I believe, is that Massachusetts took into account that perchlorate is pervasive in our food supply as well as our water. It can be found in fruits, vegetables and milk depending upon its point of origin. It can even be passed to children though mother’s-milk. Massachusetts also took into account that certain members of our population are more susceptible than others and have immune and other deficiencies. It also selected to use a greater degree of uncertainly in its calculations to provide greater safety for its residents.
The most troubling aspect of perchlorate is that it harms a child’s development. These development problems may not be easily observed but whose affects may be profound. It is easy to see and understand that a child with crutches has a disability; we can see it, hear it and touch it, but what about intelligence and behavioral problems. They are not so easily observable especially at birth or with very young but they manifest themselves later in life. These are some of the hidden and most devastating effects of perchlorate. All parents want the best for their children; they want them to reach their full potential and have every opportunity to succeed. Perchlorate has every chance rob a child of his or her potential and their quality of life.
I disagreed with the Morgan Hill City Council on Dec. 19. I was the lone dissenting vote in raising your MCL to 6 ppb in light that we do not have an MCL from the EPA, that other states have adopted a lower MCL and that research is still in progress including new cautionary research from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.
ewg.org/reports/thyroidthreat There were economic incentives in the policy change and I did not take them lightly but those incentives could not outweigh the public’s risk. Some argue that we are safe in that we have complied with the state’s regulations but I do not trust the state in light of new research and the actions of other states.
If I should error in my judgment on public health, it will always be on the side of caution. The public health must be risk free. I believe man-made toxins should not be in our water supply at any level, and as your elected official I will not compromise on issues that places you and your loved one’s at risk, but I cannot do this alone.
In light in the change in your City’s policy on treatment and the potential for an increase is/in risk, expectant mothers and those with young children should weigh all factors and risks and decide for themselves on this issue.  Ask your pediatrician; inform him or her that you live in an area where perchlorate has contaminated our water supply and follow his or her advice on the matter.
Mark Grzan, Morgan Hill City Council member
W.E.R.C. thankful for Times support
Dear Editor,
We would like to take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation for the wonderful media exposure that the Morgan Hill Times has provided for us. Thanks to you, donations to our organization rose dramatically and this has allowed us to continue our golden eagle and fire victim rehabilitation efforts and to keep the doors of our wildlife center open.
This has been a difficult year for us and for many other non-profits so your help has been literally life-saving. We wish you the happiest of holidays and a prosperous new year!Â
Sue Howell, Colleen Grzan and Teresa Stephenson
Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center
More on Sobrato, Live Oak rivalry
Dear Editor,
This is a response to the Dominic Portera’s letter.
I think that it’s kind off funny that Sobrato would post a letter saying the paper prefers Live Oak over Sobrato.
Sobrato always gets the front of the sports page. Live Oak is always on the back. Live Oak is treated like (expletive) in this town we were here first. We are the ones that hold all the records and yet we had an OK year in football, but as you all saw we made it all the way to the Central Coast Section finals and they got knocked out in the first round. Every year we get the better scores on all state tests. I have asked a principal about this and that person told me that Live Oak does better, but they don’t tell anyone that because the editor in chief or someone who works with the Morgan Hill Times has students who go to Sobrato. The editor in chief is best friends with Mr. Richard Knapp, the old principal of Sobrato. We also don’t have that big of a drug problem here at Live Oak. Yes, of course we have drugs but doesn’t every school! But Live Oak has never had 37 tablets of ecstacy here like they did at Sobrato like two months ago. I think that if you don’t have the true real facts that you shouldn’t write to the newspaper. This is Live Oak’s town. We are here to stay and it will never be time for Sobrato to shine.
Mark Dehn, Morgan Hill
Editor’s note: For the record, Times Editor Sheila Sanchez is not “best friends” with former Sobrato High School Principal Richard Knapp. Also, reporter Marilyn Dubil, as the rest of the journalists working at the Times, embrace a professional code of ethics that demands thorough, honest, accurate and balanced reporting of facts.
