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January 1, 1986 THERE will be no blitzkrieg victory against toxic chemicals. They are a part of Silicon Valley, like traffic jams. But the area can surely learn to deal more effectively with them. Some of the needed steps are familiar, but they seem to require reminders. The regional water quality control board is still short of personnel. Lawrence Kolb at the water board estimates that the board needs 12 more people just to handle South Bay contamination. Kolb says, "Compared to the staff problems, other problems are trivial." That's a bit exaggerated, but not much. The Santa Clara Valley Water District is pushing ahead to locate all the abandoned wells in the county. Under a state law effective today, the district can require property owners to seal wells that might allow toxic chemical contamination to sink through the clay layer to the deep aquifers that supply public drinking water. Research on health effects and standards for chemicals must be accelerated. This means lab work, cancer and birth defect registries, occupational health studies, studies of the San Francisco Bay and more. The bureaucracy must pull its act together. The state bureaucracy is still divided between the water boards and the Department of Health Services. The state Superfund is being investigated by the FBI and the EPA for sloppy management of federal funds. Those state agencies are then mixed with city, county, water district and EPA officials. Leo Kline of the Industry Clean Water Task Force has a point when he talks about confusion between agencies. It needs to be clear which local agency has which responsibility, and how the other levels of government will provide support. The single most important need, I believe, is to find ways to minimize chemical use and encourage recycling and treatment. That means some state and local subsidies now, but in the long run prevention is far cheaper and safer than cleaning up the inevitable accidents and mistakes. << Back to 1986 menu |
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© 2010 Timothy Taylor |