Dear Editor:
I would like to commend the Gilroy Dispatch for your news
coverage and recent editorial 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.
Dear Editor:
I would like to commend the Gilroy Dispatch for your news coverage and recent editorial 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 that issue 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, I also have been dealing with perchlorate contamination on a state-wide basis – not just in my district – and your stories did not include information on one significant additional aspect of the issue.
The Department of Defense has recently proposed to exempt themselves 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 also placed a gag order on the public discussion of perchlorate contamination by the Environmental Protection Agency.
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 Assemblymembers 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 her sister states, already are facing large budget deficits and increased security costs. We 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
Submitted Wednesday, May 7 to ed****@************ch.com
