Perspective On The EPA's Slow Reporting
Given the anxiousness and suspicion created when results are not
coming as fast as would make us comfortable, I thought I'd provide
a little perspective on what is being asked of the EPA and BRAWM
team.
And just for the record, I'm not associated in any way with either
the EPA (or any govt. agency for that matter) or UC Berkeley.
First the BRAWM team:
The BRAWM team has, to date, provided at least 89 results for
air, tap water, creek water, milk and various produce/food chain
items.
All of this was done *on top* of their regular work load/studies.
With existing staff and some student help. And shared it with us
as a public service. Although I'm sure someone will get a research
report/book out of it :-)
If you want a higher level of service from the team, perhaps an
equipment fund can be set up and any interested parties can
donate. Then maybe the equipment won't be a bottleneck the next
time we have a nuclear disaster.... And the remaining bottleneck
will just be personnel.
As has been said many times already, thanks to the BRAWM team for
their hard work and keeping us informed.
Next the EPA:
The EPA has, to date, provided 535 results from 126 cities/locations
across 48 states. I believe all of this analysis is done in one lab
in Alabama. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong on that. But,
that seems like a lot of analysis for one facility.
If you want a higher level of service, I suggest that you write your
local and Washington representives and demand that more of your tax
dollars go to the EPA to enhance the monitoring and analysis capabilities.
Then pray like crazy that the EPA doesn't waste the extra budget on
feel good, empire building and job justification projects unrelated
to what you were asking for. If you are wondering what those projects
could possibly be, subscribe to the EPA email updates and you'll see:
https://service.govdelivery.com/service/subscribe.html?code=USAEPA_C6
And for those who get suspicious when reports are not coming as fast as
you'd like, please keep in mind that this is the same govt. that brought
the "speedy" responses to New Orleans (Katrina) and the gulf oil spill.
So, aside from the amount of analysis that's being funneled through one
facility, it is still the US govt. So, set expectations accordingly.
