Brockovich boss urges study of contaminant

Thursday, April 5, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

Attorney Ed Masry, the boss of legal aide Erin Brockovich, encouraged the Senate on Wednesday to launch a study to determine the maximum contaminant level of chromium 6, suspected of causing cancer.

Masry and Brockovich, heroine of the film "Erin Brockovich," helped 600 residents of Hinkley, Calif., successfully sue Pacific Gas & Electric for $333 million after uncovering that the company had knowingly dumped chromium 6 in the town's drinking water supply.

Sens. Harry Reid of Nevada and Barbara Boxer of California, both Democrats, introduced legislation mandating the National Academy of Sciences to initiate the study of hexavalent chromium.

The bill, sent to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, would appropriate $1 billion a year to the State Revolving Loan Fund for communities to comply should a new chromium 6 water standard be put into place. The bill also makes local test results for the substance available to the public.

Also Wednesday the Small Community Drinking Water Funding Act, a companion bill, was introduced in the House by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Tom Udall, D-N.M., and referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The legislation will provide grants to small public drinking water systems to assist in improving drinking water quality.

No conclusive study on the substance, which is used in paint pigments, chrome plating and other industrial processes, has been done in the United States.

EPA is currently reviewing its total chromium standard as part of a routine evaluation of all drinking water contaminants defined under the Safe Drinking Water Act, an EPA spokeswoman said. A decision is expected this fall.

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