Video of Congressman Sherman in Action
As we start this New Year, remember that last year marked the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act when originally passed was landmark environmental legislation. It has significantly cleaned up the nation’s oceans, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. But keeping our water clean is an ongoing, never-ending effort.
We must now focus on pollutants in the water we drink. I have cosponsored the Safe Drinking Water for Healthy Communities Act (H.R. 1747), which requires the EPA to regulate the level of contamination in our drinking water from perchlorate, a key ingredient of rocket fuel increasingly found in soil and water. While perchlorate is known to inhibit thyroid function in women and children at high levels of exposure, government scientists have found that low levels of perchlorate exposure can inhibit women’s thyroid function as well. Studies have also shown that if a woman is pregnant, exposure to perchlorate can interfere with the normal brain development of her child.
Limiting perchlorate in our water is particularly important in our area. There are those who are at a greater risk because they live close to the Boeing testing facility in the Simi Hills, which is between Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley. Unless the EPA sets strong, clear standards for acceptable levels of perchlorate, we will not be able to prevent the adverse health effects that ensue from excessive exposure to this chemical.
This is only a brief update on an important issue facing Congress. Please feel free to contact me about this issue, or other federal issues which concern you. Please visit my website at BradSherman.house.gov and click on the link to my Federal Issues Questionnaire. Also, please give me your email address, if you want me to send you periodic updates on various congressional activities.
