House Resolution 2154 IH

["Dale Thomas" <Dale.Thomas@guardian.brooks.af.mil>]

      Good morning fellow RADSAFERS,
   
      I found this bill on the House of Respresentatives Legislative resource.  
   Read the text of the Bill.  Evidently, congress believes that it is more cost 
   effective to do environmental analyses in the private sector.  Also, note 
   that this bill would preclude any environmental sample from being analyzed in 
   a federal laboratory.  
   
   My facility does a considerable volume of environmental analysis.  However, 
   my personal effort is strictly in the radiochemistry arena.  It has been my 
   experience that many of the commercial laboratories fail to live up to what I 
   would deem quality analytical work.  On more than one occasion, we have 
   served as the QC laboratory and split samples with contract labs.  More often 
   than not, the contractors analyses are woefully inadequate.  One recent 
   instance involved the analysis fro Ra-226 in soil.  The contractor was 
   reporting less than 3 pCi/gram via gamma spectroscopy.  Our result was in 
   excess of 40 pCi/gram (also via gamma spectroscopy).  Subsequently, I split 
   the sample again and sent the result to another lab (also a nationally 
   reputable federal laboratory).  They also measured the result in excess of 40 
   pCi/gram.
   
   Please don't take this wrong.  I realize that there are commercial 
   laboratories out there that are very good.  However, (and I'll admit I'm 
   biased) for every good one, there are three bad ones.
   
   How do the rest of you feel with trusting your analytical work to a 
   commercial facility?  I believe that this bill, if passed, will have an 
   adverse impact on the quality of the national effort on environmental 
   restoration.
   
   Sorry to get on a soap-box.... and of course, this is only my opinion, not my 
   employer's.
   
   Dale Thomas
   Health Physicist
   Bioenvironmental Engineering Division 
   Occupational and Environmental Health Directorate 
   Armstrong Laboratory
   Brooks AFB, TX 78235
   (210) 536-5816
   email: Dale.Thomas@guardian.brooks.af.mil 
   
   
   
   _____________________________________________________________________________
   
   104th CONGRESS
             1st Session
            
    To privatize environmental testing analysis, and for other purposes.
   
                                IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
   
                                        August 1, 1995
   
             Mr. Lipinski (for himself and Mr. Poshard) introduced the following
                 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in
                 addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure
                 and Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
                 the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
                 as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
    
                                           A BILL
   
             To privatize environmental testing analysis, and for other 
   purposes.
             Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
             United States of America in Congress assembled,
             
   SECTION 1. PRIVATIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING ANALYSIS.
   
             All Federal departments and agencies performing environmental
             testing analyses, in support of monitoring, assessment, or
             compliance decisionmaking, or both, pursuant to Federal, State, or
             municipal statutes, regulations, or other legal requirements, shall
             use exclusively nongovernmental testing laboratories, so long as
             testing protocols, method requirements, preservation times,
             transportation times, or holding times can be achieved. Any State 
             or local government or institution of higher education performing
             any such environmental testing analysis for such purposes shall 
             also use exclusively nongovernmental testing laboratories, so long
             as testing protocols, method requirements, preservation times,
             transportation times, or holding times can be achieved if Federal
             grants or other Federal assistance is used to carry out such
             analysis.
   
   SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
   
             This Act shall take effect with respect to any environmental
             testing analysis commenced after the date of the enactment of this
             Act.