[Pharmwaste] Feds not addressing drugs in water AP article

Tenace, Laurie Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
Mon Apr 14 09:05:54 EDT 2008


http://www.bnd.com/living/health/story/309255.html


Feds not addressing drugs in water
By MARTHA MENDOZA
AP National Writer


WASHINGTON --A White House task force that was supposed to devise a federal
plan to research the issue of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has missed
its deadline and failed to produce mandated reports and recommendations for
coordination among numerous federal agencies, according to documents obtained
by The Associated Press.

More than 70 pages of the task force's documents, including e-mails and
weekly reports, were released under the Freedom of Information Act as a
Senate subcommittee prepares to convene a hearing Tuesday prompted by an AP
investigation about trace concentrations of drugs in America's drinking
water.

The working group on pharmaceuticals in the environment was formed two years
ago through the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The
panel has met several times for briefings and is aware of public concern
about pharmaceuticals in water supplies, according to the documents.

In a weekly report dated March 24, 2006, then-task force coordinator Kevin
Geiss, wrote: "There has been considerable congressional interest in this
topic."

But it is impossible to track any possible progress by the group because the
White House has classified task force agendas and minutes as internal
documents, and therefore cannot be released, said spokeswoman Kristin
Scuderi. The group's annual report is in draft form and therefore also cannot
be released at this time, she added.

While providing some documents to the AP, Rachael Leonard, a White House
deputy general counsel, said "10 inches worth of documents" were not being
released.

The group's deadline to produce a national research strategy came and went in
December. Scuderi said the task force needs extra time to "serve as an
internal federal vehicle to further enhance interagency collaboration."

The group includes representatives from nine federal agencies including the
Environmental Protection Agency, Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug
Administration.

The lack of public disclosure and failure of federal agencies to act on the
pharmaceutical issue is expected to be a focus at Tuesday's hearing before a
subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Among
others, officials from the EPA and U.S. Geological Survey are scheduled to
testify.

The hearing could produce a showdown between committee members and EPA
officials.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who heads the committee, and Sen. Frank
Lautenberg, D-N.J., chairman of the Transportation, Safety, Infrastructure
Security and Water Quality Subcommittee, wrote to EPA Administrator Stephen
Johnson on March 18 asking what the agency plans to do to address concerns
about pharmaceuticals in water. The EPA had not responded, a Senate staff
member said Friday.

The hearing was prompted by a five-month-long inquiry by the AP National
Investigative Team that disclosed the presence of trace concentrations of
pharmaceuticals in the drinking water of at least 41 million Americans.

The AP found that while water is screened for drugs by some suppliers, they
usually don't tell their customers of results showing the presence of
medications including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex
hormones.

The series revealed how drugs - mostly the residue of medications taken by
people, excreted and flushed down the toilet - have gotten into the water
supplies of at least 24 major metropolitan areas, from Southern California to
Northern New Jersey. The stories also detail the growing concerns among
scientists that this pollution has adversely affected wildlife, and may be
threatening human health.

EPA officials responded with concern, pledging to organize additional
research and by saying people should be informed if drugs are detected in
their water supplies.

But Kyla Bennett, a lawyer and former EPA biologist, said the EPA "is moving
with all deliberate delay."

Bennett, who directs the New England branch of Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility, said Congress first ordered the EPA to address
the issue 12 years ago.

"When it should be pressing forward, EPA is spinning in place, as if it has
overdosed on pharmaceuticals," she said.

Others say funding has been pulled and priorities shifted.

"The EPA has missed the boat in really addressing the serious consequences of
pharmaceutical disposal," said Anna Gilmore-Hall, executive director of
Healthcare Without Harm.

Hall's nonprofit now runs what was the EPA's Hospitals for a Healthy
Environment stewardship program, designed to reduce mercury use and improve
the environmental footprint of the health care industry.

The EPA cut the $200,000-per-year program in 2003 after five years, despite
widespread interest and involvement from hospitals, declining to even sit on
the nonprofit's board.

Clean Water Action's New Jersey campaign Director David Pringle, slated to
testify at the hearing, said he plans to tell the senators that "while it's
not time to panic, it's a time of concern and we need to take action."

Pringle said existing regulations are not being used and that federal
officials have known for years there are problems. "They've clearly been
dragging their feet," he said.

Local hearings and public meetings have already been held in various cities
including New York. The Philadelphia City Council has a hearing prompted by
the AP series scheduled for Monday.

Laurie J. Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 4555
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400
PH: (850) 245-8759
FAX: (850) 245-8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us 

Mercury web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm

Unwanted Medications web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm




Please Note:  Florida has a very broad public records law.  Most written
communications to or from state officials regarding state business are public
records available to the public and media upon request.  Your e-mail is
communications and may therefore be subject to public disclosure.



The Department of Environmental 

Protection values your feedback as a customer. DEP Secretary Michael W. Sole is committed to continuously assessing and 

improving the level and quality of services provided to you. Please take a few minutes to comment on the quality of 

service you received. Copy the url below to a web browser to complete the DEP 

survey: http://survey.dep.state.fl.us/?refemail=Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.us Thank you in advance for completing the survey.


More information about the Pharmwaste mailing list