PENTAGON AGAIN DELAYS PERCHLORATE INFORMATION.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington BureauThe Pentagon says it still needs more time to release a 2001 perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. study that was supposed to be made public last month. Congress had demanded the full release by April 30 of a Defense Department examination of perchlorate contamination at all of the agency's 5,000 active and closed military installations. So far, the agency has revealed results only for about 305 bases. Initially, Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood said the report would be about two weeks late. On Friday, officials said the delay will be longer. ``I misspoke,'' Flood said. ``I was led to believe it would be by the middle of May and then the end of May. Now I hear it may be mid-June.'' He called the delay strictly procedural, but declined to specify the holdups. Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. , D-San Francisco, the driving force behind the congressional demand for the report, has written to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complaining about the delay. She also has accused the Pentagon of ``consistently avoiding providing information to Congress about perchlorate contamination.'' Perchlorate is a naturally occurring and man-made chemical that is the main ingredient in solid rocket fuel. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard health hazard Occupational safety Any agent or activity posing a potential hazard to health. Cf Physical hazard. Assessment, perchlorate ``does not pose a known cancer risk.'' Researchers say, however, that it interferes with iodine uptake into the thyroid gland - thereby disrupting the thyroid function and potentially leading to tumors. Aerospace-rich Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, has been a hotbed hotbed, low, glass-covered frame structure for starting tender plants. It differs from a cold frame only in that the soil is heated—either artificially as by underground electric wiring or steampipes, or naturally with partially fermented stable manure, which of perchlorate contamination. According to the Environmental Working Group, more than 80 percent of the state's 351 perchlorate-polluted water-supply systems are in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
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