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PERCHLORATE FORUM TO BE HELD IN PHOENIX

Release Date: 8/13/1998
Contact Information: Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA Region 9, (415) 744-1587, Amy Rezzonico, ADEQ (602) 207-2215

RELEASED JOINTLY BY U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

     (San Francisco/Phoenix) -- A public forum to discuss potential perchlorate contamination in the environment will be held later this month in Phoenix, Ariz.  The Interagency Perchlorate Steering Committee (IPSC) which is sponsoring the hearing plans to share information on key scientific issues and hear stakeholder concerns about potential perchlorate contamination in the environment.

     Ammonium perchlorate is an inorganic salt used in solid rocket fuel, munitions and in the fireworks industry.  Perchlorate manufacturers estimate that approximately 90 percent of perchlorate is used for solid rocket fuel.  Ammonium perchlorate dissolves as easily as table salt, and the resulting anion is stable, can persist for decades in the environment, and moves easily through both groundwater and surface water.  Perchlorate has been detected in 110 public water supply wells in California from at least 14 distinct sources, in the Colorado River from sources in Nevada, and in surface or groundwater in Utah, Texas, New York, Maryland and Arkansas.  The Colorado River is an important source of municipal and agricultural water for the state of Arizona.

      The stakeholder forum will be held at Arizona State University West Campus Thursday, August 27, 1998, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., in the La Sala Rooms B and C, University Center Building, 4701 W. Thunderbird., Phoenix.  A stakeholder forum is also being held in Salt Lake City Tuesday, August 25, 1998.

     The IPSC is seeking input from State and Tribal drinking water programs, public water systems, public health organizations, academia, environmental and public interest groups, engineering firms, and other members of the public, and encourages the full participation of stakeholders at the forums.

     To register for the forum, please contact the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline by calling 1-800-426-4791 or 703-285-1093 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EDT or by sending an e-mail message to: hotline-sdwa@epa.gov.  There is no registration fee for the stakeholder forum, but participants should pre-register. Those registered by August 17, 1998, will receive a draft agenda, logistics information, and discussion papers prior to the forum.  For additional information on forum logistics, please contact the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

     The IPSC is a working partnership of governmental agencies chartered to facilitate and coordinate issues related to perchlorate.  The members of the IPSC as of July 1998 are: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Defense, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the California Department of Health Services, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, the Utah Department of Health Laboratories, the Cocopah Indian Tribe, the Colorado River Indian Tribes, the Ft. Mojave Indian Tribe, the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, and the Quechan Indian Tribe.