Water Quality Jeopardized By Proposed New Selenium Standards

[Guest guest]

Selenium like any chemical comes in many different forms, some of those

forms are good for us and some very toxic. F.

 

 

 

 

 

Tue, 11 Jan 2005 14:10:30 GMT

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Water Quality Jeopardized By Proposed New Selenium Standards

 

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Federal Register

Read the proposed standard changes on EPA's website.

 

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January 11, 2005 | Back Issues

 

Water Quality Jeopardized By Proposed New Selenium Standards

 

Selenium gained national attention and federal regulation during the

1980s after causing mass deformities of waterfowl in California's

Central Valley. Now it is back in the news, with a report that the

Bush administration is planning to relax government regulation of this

toxic substance.

 

Draft criteria for new selenium standards were published last month in

the Federal Register, and EPA is currently soliciting scientific data

and information on the proposed changes. New standards could be

finalized within a few months, according to a recent article in the

Sacramento Bee.

 

Selenium is a naturally occurring metal, but is also discharged into

waterways by power companies, farms, and mining operations. Health

effects for humans, according to the EPA, can include kidney and liver

damage, and damage to the circulatory and nervous system. [1]

 

Environmentalists and government scientists alike are wary of the

administration's proposed changes, fearing that they weaken water

quality standards, and may have severe health consequences for aquatic

life and animals that consume contaminated fish.

 

" The Bush administration is proposing changes to the selenium

standards that are being promoted by coal mining interests and other

industries that want to avoid taking steps to limit this serious form

of water pollution, " Joan Mulhern, senior legislative counsel to

Earthjustice, told BushGreenwatch.

 

Various mining industries across the country contribute to selenium

levels in U.S. waterways, including phosphate mines in Idaho, copper

mines in Utah, mountaintop coal mines in West Virginia, and

coal-burning power plants.

 

The Sacrament Bee cited several scientists who are troubled by the new

levels and how they might weaken water quality standards. [2] EPA

plans to switch to a fish-based standard for measuring selenium

levels, which in itself is not objectionable. But the EPA is raising

the allowable concentration of selenium in fish to 7.91 parts per

million, from 5 parts per million that is allowed in water. [3]

 

Also at issue is the source of research that has influenced the

proposed standard changes for selenium. The contractor in charge of

research has previously worked for industries supporting weaker

selenium standards. The potentially flawed analysis may have

overstated survival rates for fish contaminated with selenium by as

much as two or three times.

 

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SOURCES:

[1] EPA website.

[2] EPA Proposes New Selenium Standards, Sacramento Bee, Dec. 10, 2004.

[3] Federal Register, Dec. 17, 2004.

 

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