EDITOR: I would like to commend the Morgan Hill Times for your
news coverage calling attention to the problem of perchlorate
contamination, which locally has been found in a significant number
of drinking water wells in the Morgan Hill and San Martin area.
EDITOR:
I would like to commend the Morgan Hill Times for your news coverage calling attention to the problem of perchlorate contamination, which locally has been found in a significant number of drinking water wells in the Morgan Hill and San Martin area.
I represent that area in the state Assembly, and have been working with state and local officials to respond to the perchlorate discovery in the interest of those who find themselves in the middle of that contamination. However, as Chair of the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, in addition to tracking this issue on a local and statewide basis, I am also following troubling developments at the federal level.
The U.S. Department of Defense has recently proposed to exempt itself from a variety of federal environmental laws. Given that many of the perchlorate contamination sites in California are likely the result of federally related contamination – this exemption could limit federal responsibility for these and future toxic spills and, in effect, dump the responsibility for the cleanup of such areas onto state government. It is also very disturbing that the national administration has placed a gag order on the federal Environmental Protection Agency from publicly discussing a recent report that leafy vegetables irrigated with perchlorate-contaminated water concentrate the chemical at unacceptable levels.
In an attempt to bring this issue to light in the Legislature, three chairs of Assembly environmental committees recently co-authored a letter, joined by 24 other California Assembly members and Senators, which was sent to members of our Congressional delegation, the Secretary of the Interior and the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking for their best efforts to resist these proposed federal exemptions.
If federal entities exempt themselves from the protections offered by these federal laws, Californians will be forced to pick up the additional costs resulting from activities beyond their control and supervision. California, and many of our sister states, already are facing large budget deficits and increased security costs. e agree that a well-trained and equipped military force is necessary for the security of our nation and its citizens, but this request by the federal government for sweeping exemptions from environmental laws is extremely troubling – and this proposal should not be adopted.
John Laird,
Member of the state Assembly
27th District
