Should we trust EPA?
On Thursday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it won’t protect.
Actually, what EPA announced was that it won’t regulate perchlorate, a toxic chemical compound found in rocket fuel that contaminates water and has been linked to fetal and infant brain damage.
But this is more than just not regulating. The decision was widely expected after The New York Times reported last month that the agency’s administrator had decided to effectively defy a court order that required EPA to establish a safe drinking-water standard for the chemical by the end of June.
But there is EPA insult added to the injury: In addition to not regulating, the agency “overturned” the underlying scientific finding that declared perchlorate a serious health risk for five million to 16 million people in the United States, writes The Times.