RE: Your posting to radsafe

["Ted Rockwell" <tedrock@CPCUG.ORG>]

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 On which toxins did the EPA loose?



John et al:



The most recent, and most relevant, case involved chloroform in water.  EPA

specificzlly said they assumed an LNT relationship (using that term) and the

court specifically said that there was no evidence to back that premise, and

vacated the finding, sending EPA back to square one.



Another defeat involved EPA's finding that second-hand tobacco smoke is a

class 4 carcinogen.  The court, claiming no biological expertise, followed

EPA's procedures in arriving at that conclusion.  The court found:

"EPA publicly committed to a conclusion before research had begun;

excluded industry by violating the Act's procedural requirements;

adjusted established procedure and scientific norms to validate the Agency's

public conclusion;

and aggressively utilized the Act's authority...to establish a de facto

regulatory scheme."

The Court also noted that, in conducting its risk assessment, EPA:

"disregarded information and made findings on selective information;

did not disseminate significant epidemiological information;

deviated from its Risk Assessment Guidelines;

failed to disclose important findings and reasoning;

and left significant questions without answers."



That's pretty much what we're looking for with respect to the EPA rule on

radioactivity levels in water.  The danger will be if people are willing to

settle for a higher permissible number (i.e. a threshold) and not face the

issue that evidence of the harmlessness of LDR is not being taken into

account.  This would leave all the other issues unaffected: Yucca Mtn,

compensation of "cold war heroes" (nuclear workers), site clean-up

requirements, recycle of slightly contaminated materials, deaths from

Chernobyl, etc.



I don't think nuclear technologies can prosper under such a burden, nor

should they have to.  But I fear the temptation to sell out for a short term

gain may be overpowering to some.



Ted Rockwell



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