U.S. Court of Appeals Announces Major Victory for Science

April 3, 2000

Chlorine Chemistry Council(R) Celebrates Court Decision on Industry Challenge

Of EPA Drinking Water Rule

WASHINGTON, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today announced a major ruling against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The court ruled that EPA violated the Safe Drinking Water Act by failing to use the "best available peer reviewed science" in establishing the Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) for chloroform, a byproduct of drinking water disinfection. This decision sets an important precedent for the use of science in future EPA regulations.

"We are extremely pleased that the Court ruled in favor of science over politics," said C.T. "Kip" Howlett, executive director of the Chlorine Chemistry Council(R), the lead organization in the lawsuit filed against the EPA. "This decision demonstrates that science matters."

Writing on behalf of the Court, Judge Stephen F. Williams noted, "Finding the Agency's December 1998 rule adopting a zero MCLG for chloroform to be arbitrary and capricious and in excess of statutory authority, we vacate the rule .... In promulgating a zero MCLG for chloroform, EPA openly overrode the 'best available' scientific evidence, which suggested that chloroform is a threshold carcinogen."

The Court continued, "Petitioners, including the Chlorine Chemistry Council, ... argu(ed) that EPA violated its statutory mandate to use the 'best available' evidence when implementing the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. We agree."

In reference to EPA's arguments on its statutory obligation, Judge Williams wrote, "The fact that EPA has arrived at a novel, even politically charged, outcome is of no significance." The Court later added, "We find these semantic somersaults pointless."

Mr. Howlett added, "We are delighted that the Court agreed that the science supports something other than a zero MCLG for chloroform. We look forward to working with the Court and the agency to expeditiously promulgate a new, non-zero MCLG."

Howlett also thanked the ten water utilities that joined the litigation and Congressman Tom Bliley and a group of public health scientists who filed amicus briefs supporting the use of the best available science in decision making.

Chloroform is a byproduct of chlorine disinfection of drinking water containing natural organic matter. Chlorine has been used to disinfect drinking water in the United States for nearly a century. Indeed, water chlorination is widely credited with the eradication of several waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera, and has been hailed by the CDC and others as one of the major public health achievements of the last century.

The Chlorine Chemistry Council, a business council of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, is comprised of manufacturers and users of chlorine and chlorine-based products.

The Court's decision can be found in its entirety at: <http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200003/98-1627a.txt>http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200003/98-1627a.txt

SOURCE Chlorine Chemical Council

CONTACT: Janet F. Flynn, 703-741-5827; or Ralph Posner, 202-452-9425, both for the Chlorine Chemistry Council

Would you like to email or fax this story

to a friend?

Gregory Scott Fleming

Analytical Environmental Support Group

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

P.O. Box 2008

Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6420

Phone: 865-241-9673

FAX: 865-241-9681