Herger's Folly

Let Them Drink Arsenic

The House of Representatives voted 218-189 on July 27, 2001 to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose a rule set in the waning days of President Bill Clinton's term that would sharply lower levels of cancer-causing arsenic in drinking water. Nineteen Republicans joined 198 Democrats to pass the legislation. Representative Wally Herger, a Republican who represents Butte, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Trinity, and Yuba counties, voted against the stricter arsenic standard.

While Herger's anti-environmental position is well known throughout the country, he usually likes to tout his pro-people stance. His vote against healthier drinking water directly contradicts his stated affection for humanity since approximately 13 million people in the United States drink water with more than 10 parts per billion of arsenic according to EPA figures. The National Academy of Sciences has concluded that people who drink water with 50 parts of arsenic per billion, the old standard, have a one in 100 chance of dying from cancer caused by that exposure. Even the 10 parts per billion standard passed by the House is not considered a safe standard by many scientists. Arsenic is an endocrine disrupter, a substance that inhibits the natural action of hormones (Wang, Science News March 17, 2001).

For many years arsenic contamination was believed to come only from mine tailings and agricultural run off from using arsenical pesticides. Current understanding is that there is also background arsenic in many ground water aquifers some of which are now being used for drinking water supplies (Chronic Arsenic Poisoning: History, Study and Remediation). The U. S. Geological Survey provides the following map that illustrates the extent of the problem: http://webserver.cr.usgs.gov/trace/arsenic/. California clearly has many areas that exceed 10 parts per billion.

This column originally appeared in August 2001 in the Chico Examiner.