Panel ups the standards for carcinogens in water

Only arsenic was omitted from stronger proposal

MONTGOMERY - Environmentalists won a victory Friday with the state Environmental Management Commission's vote to cut the amount of cancer-causing substances that can be dumped into rivers and streams by Alabama industries.

The commission voted 3-1 to establish stronger standards for a class of 57 carcinogens. Arsenic from coal-burning power plants was excluded from the proposal.

The only dissenting vote was cast by Wayne Wainwright, a Dothan engineer who criticized the omission of arsenic from the list.

"I felt like that issue should be settled with the rules that are being changed," said Wainwright. "All other carcinogens would be more restricted."

Since 1991, Alabama has employed the weakest standards allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine the level of cancer-causing agents that factories and plants can dump into waterways.

The new rule will change what Alabama considers an acceptable risk from carcinogens from one cancer case per 100,000 residents to one case per 1 million residents. Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina already use that threshold.

Among Southeastern states, only Tennessee will still use Alabama's old standard.

Dr. Kathleen Felker, a Huntsville physician and a member of the commission, said the new standards mean Alabama now "is in line with 60 percent of the rest of the country."

"It means lower concentrations will be going into our waterways, the waters that we swim and recreate in," she said. "It will also affect our fish and wildlife."

Felker said arsenic was left off the new list because Alabama already has one of the strictest prohibitions against arsenic discharges of any state in the nation.

"We did not feel we needed to ask them to go any further in limiting arsenic," she added.

The commission, which oversees the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, also adopted a rule that will outlaw the dumping of two specific toxic chemicals.

They are acrolein, used in poison gas during World War I, and phenol, used in a variety of consumer products.

"I believe we have had a lot of turning points for the state of Alabama and for the country," Felker said, referring to Friday's vote.

She also cited pending legislation by Reps. Frank McDaniel, D-Albertville, and Howard Sanderford, R-Huntsville, that would create a statewide program for solid waste management to be coordinated by ADEM.

The bill would create a statewide recycling program and clean up illegal dumps. The House passed the bill March 27.

The commission also voted to schedule, on a trial basis, two meetings each year outside Montgomery.

Felker said ADEM had previously resisted those meetings because of cost and because of the fear that they might be dominated by local issues. She said Gov. Bob Riley supports the idea, however.

"It's something environmentalists have wanted for a long time," she said. "We'll see how much it cost and how well they are attended."

Friday's action won the praise of Alabama environmental groups.

"This is a huge step ... that will be a great benefit to the health of Alabama's citizens, " Adam Snyder, executive director of Conservation Alabama, said in a statement. "It brings us on par with the rest of the Southeast and the country."

Cindy Lowry, executive director of the Alabama Rivers Alliance, added, "This is an important step toward cleaner water in Alabama, which will reduce the risk of harmful health effects to aquatic species and citizens around the state."

ADEM said about 1,900 businesses and municipal sewage treatment plants are permitted to release carcinogens into state waterways. The substances most commonly covered by discharge permits are benzene, hexachlorobenzene and arsenic.

Alabama Power Co., the Business Council of Alabama and several other business and industry groups had opposed the changes, saying ADEM's current carcinogen standards adequately protect human health and the environment.