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Don't Weaken Selenium Standard
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Progressive Portal
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Apr 17, 2005 02:25 PDT
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FAULTY METHODOLOGIES BEHIND NEW PROPOSAL WOULD SET
DANGEROUS PRECEDENT FOR REGULATION OF OTHER CONTAMINANTS
* Act now - comment period ends 18 Apr 2005 *
[From the Union of Concerned Scientists <http://www.ucsusa.org>]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed replacing
current limits on selenium pollution with weaker standards developed by
an industry-linked outside contractor on the basis of methods that,
according to experts in the field, are fundamentally flawed.
Selenium is a naturally occurring metal that is important for wildlife
and humans in small amounts. In high doses, however, it causes severe
reproductive impairment and even death in fish, birds, and other
wildlife.
Two dramatic cases of wildlife poisoning first drew attention to the
threats posed by selenium pollution:
* In the 1970s, as selenium accumulated in a North Carolina lake used by
Duke Power Company, the resident species of fish started showing
deformities to the spine, head, fins, and eyes. Nineteen out of 20
species in the lake disappeared over a four-year period; only the
selenium-tolerant mosquitofish remained.
* In 1983, at the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in the western San
Joaquin Valley in California, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
discovered cases of mortality, congenital defects, and reproductive
failures in waterfowl. Drawing national press attention, the case led to
new methods for managing selenium-contaminated runoff from irrigated
agriculture.
The FWS has identified at least 15 threatened and endangered species
that could be imperiled by increased selenium discharges. The EPA denies
that the new, more relaxed standard it is proposing is a threat to these
or other animals. But its proposal was developed by an outside
contractor that has previously worked for the industries seeking a
weaker standard. When the proposal was reviewed by a team of scientists
from other government agencies - experts with years of experience
studying the impacts of selenium on fish, birds, and other wildlife -
they concluded that the contractor had made several egregious
methodological errors, all of which biased the proposal toward a higher,
overly permissive limit.
In addition, the outside scientists charge, the proposal reflects a
major reduction in the standard of protection. Traditionally, the EPA
has sought to ensure that the "sub-lethal" effects of a contaminant,
such as reproductive impairment, involve no more than 10 percent of an
affected population. When developing the proposed selenium standard, the
contractor chose a threshold of 20 percent - even for lethal effects. In
other words, the EPA assumed that it is appropriate to allow pollution
that kills up to twenty percent of affected species.
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The scientists who reviewed the proposal called these changes
"significant departures from well-established methods for protecting
aquatic species and wildlife." The proposal sets a dangerous precedent
that could weaken regulation of other contaminants. (The EPA is in the
process of developing new limits for atrazine, diazinon, nonylphenol,
MTBE, and manganese, in addition to revising existing water-quality
standards for copper, silver, lead, and iron.)
Public comments on the new selenium proposal are due by 18 Apr 2005.
Urge the agency to scrap the proposal it is now considering and to
develop any future standard based on rigorous and independent science.
Take Action
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Send your comment to the EPA at:
http://www.ucsaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=25606
More Information
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Analysis of the controversy over selenium standards:
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2005/mar/science/rr_selenium.html
//www.sacbee.com/content/news/environment/story/10576582p-11495494c.html
(registration required)
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/environment/story/11716332p-12604856c.html
(registration required)
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