Acting EPA head balks at water protections

Like most Americans, I always assumed the tap water I served my family was safe. It wasn’t until 12 years after the death of my six-year-old daughter Janey that I discovered the water my family drank when I served at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with toxic chemicals like trichloroethylene, or TCE; perchloroethylene, or PCE; and scores of other toxic chemicals.

Military families at Camp Lejeune are not alone. In fact, it is one of roughly 400 military bases that may have contaminated water. At least 149 current and former bases have already been designated Superfund sites – toxic sites requiring federally managed cleanup.

For decades, leaders in both parties have failed to make toxic chemical pollution a priority. Now our senators have a chance to make a difference. Before North Carolina’s senators agree to allow a vote on President Trump’s nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency, they should demand action on toxic chemicals like the ones that likely caused Janey’s leukemia.

Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler stepped in after Scott Pruitt, EPA’s scandal-plagued administrator, was forced to resign. But though he has avoided the kind of scandals that brought down Pruitt, so far Wheeler has proposed policies that are just as bad for public health as his predecessor’s. In particular, he has proposed rules that would sharply reduce protections for small streams, increase mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants and weaken safeguards for coal-ash ponds.

Military families like mine are particularly concerned about Wheeler’s failure to restore basic protections from exposure to toxic chemicals. So far Wheeler has failed to follow through on the EPA’s proposals to ban some industrial uses of TCE — proposed bans that Pruitt blocked. Wheeler has also failed to follow through on Pruitt’s pledge to finally ban methylene chloride, a paint-stripping chemical that has killed more than 60 Americans. Instead, he has suggested that methylene chloride should remain legal for commercial use. Wheeler has even challenged a court’s decision to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to brain damage in children.

North Carolina residents should also worry that Wheeler will fail to address the risks posed by perfluorinated chemicals like GenX, which is fouling the Cape Fear River. Chemicals like PFOA, PFOS and GenX could contaminate the drinking water of millions of Americans. But so far Wheeler has refused to commit to figuring out the scope of this growing contamination crisis – or propose a plan to address it.

When President Trump nominated the chemical industry’s favorite hired gun, Michael Dourson, to oversee chemical safety at the EPA, Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) stood up for our health. For decades Dourson had been paid by chemical companies to argue for weaker standards for chemicals like TCE. After Burr and Tillis objected, Dourson was forced to withdraw his nomination, and Trump offered the job to someone who seems to appreciate the risks chemicals pose and has pledged to follow the law.

Now we need our senators’ help again. Before the Senate considers whether to confirm Wheeler, it must ensure he will follow through on bans of toxic chemicals like TCE and methylene chloride.

The issue of banning chemicals linked to cancer is not a political one. It’s a question of life and death. Sens. Burr and Tillis should once again stand with military families like mine and use their power to protect all Americans.

Jerry Ensminger is a retired Marine master sergeant.

This story was originally published January 28, 2019 at 12:15 PM.