By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer Daily Bulletin 093006
Action was taken late this week on three measures in Sacramento and Washington that could affect the quality Southern California water.
A bill to change the way the state determines standards for drinking water died on the governor's desk and two funding plans to clean up perchlorate contamination moved a step forward.
On Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the drinking-water standards bill sponsored by state Sen. Nell Soto, D-Ontario.
"We're disappointed that the governor has sided with polluters over public health," said Sujatha Jahagirdar of Environment California.
The legislation would have made the process of determining a drinking water standard more transparent, allowed the state to look more closely at a standard's potential impact on public health and to compare its standard with those of other states.
Soto's chief of staff, Paul Van Dyke, said the legislation had bipartisan support, passing the state Senate by a vote of 29-11 and the Assembly by a vote of 46-31.
Van Dyke said Soto sponsored the bill because of perchlorate contamination in the region. Perchlorate is a chemical used in the production of explosives and can cause thyroid problems in humans. Rialto and Colton have both sued a number of parties they say are responsible for the contamination.
California is likely to adopt a maximum perchlorate standard of six parts per billion, although Massachusetts adopted a standard of two parts per billion.
Schwarzenegger said in a statement that he vetoed the bill because it ignores the importance of considering economic factors and technological feasibility in determining a drinking water standard, a claim Soto called "nonsense" in a statement.
"We didn't do anything to that," Van Dyke said of the existing economic and technological considerations that are already part of the process.
One of the only organizations to lobby against the legislation was the Whittaker Corp., a defendant in Rialto's lawsuit. Whittaker hired the lobbying firm California Strategies & Advocacy LLC in the days leading up to the votes in the Legislature.
On Friday, the U.S. Senate approved the National Heritage Areas Act, which the House already approved. The act includes a provision authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to distribute $25 million obtained by Sen. Dianne Feinstein for perchlorate cleanup in California.
If the president signs the legislation, further legislation would be needed to appropriate the funds.
Rialto City Attorney Bob Owen said every dollar helps the city's perchlorate problem. He also said every dollar the city receives from the federal government is a dollar the city can't claim from the defendants in its lawsuit, which include the Department of Defense, San Bernardino County and a number of corporations. The city contends the polluters, not the taxpayers, should pay for the cleanup.
On Friday, the U.S. Senate also passed the Defense Appropriations Conference Report, which includes $1.1 million obtained by U.S. Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, for the Inland Empire Perchlorate Task Force, made up of local government entities and water suppliers, to clean up perchlorate contamination. The president is expected to sign the legislation.
Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com.
BSRanch Perspective:
Well, looks like the governor is even wanting the city's and Counties to work this problem out for themselves. Like I have been saying all this time. In stead Rialto is trying to pass the buck onto the county or the Federal government to pay for the removal of something that they are painful right now. I really don't expect the city to win any Law Suit against the Federal government or the county for that matter, they will be forced to work together to fix this problem and get hit cleaned out of the water supply. The minimum standard that the government is setting is to high for the people in San Bernardino and Rialto, as the elderly will surly have the problems associated with the Perchlorate that is left in the water supply!!
BSRanch.
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