August 1, 2005

Cynthia Dougherty
Director, Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
Mail Code 4601M
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Ms. Dougherty,

As you go into your 2006 review of standards for radionuclides in drinking water, we urge you to carefully examine the report entitled Bad to the Bone: Analysis of the Federal Maximum Contaminant Levels for Plutonium-239 and Other Alpha-Emitting Transuranic Radionuclides in Drinking Water prepared by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. The careful scientific analysis in this report shows that the present Maximum Contaminant Limit of 15 picocuries per liter for gross alpha contamination, which includes plutonium-239 and other alpha-emitting, long-lived transuranic radionuclides, no longer fulfills the letter and intent of the drinking water regulations in terms of protection of public health.

The EPA did not revise the MCL during its last review of radioactivity in drinking water in the year 2000, despite the fact that the EPA itself has published dose conversion factors and other information that indicated that the MCL for alpha-emitting, long-lived transuranic radionuclides was outdated and no longer fulfilled the intent of the regulation as it was promulgated in 1976.

We, the undersigned, endorse the recommendations of the IEER report on the MCLs for alpha-emitting, long-lived transuranic radionuclides in drinking water. Specifically, we are asking you to adopt its central recommendation that the combined MCL for alpha-emitting, long-lived transuranic radionuclides be set at 0.15 picocuries per liter. The regulation should also reflect the corresponding IEER recommendation for a lower detection limit. Please contact Dr. Arjun Makhijani, the author of the report and president of IEER, at 301-270-5500 or arjun[at]ieer.org if you have any questions about this letter or the report.

Thanking you in anticipation,

Bobbie Paul
Atlanta Women's Action for New Directions
Atlanta, Georgia

Louis Zeller
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Glendale Springs, North Carolina

Sue Dayton
Citizen Action New Mexico
Sandia Park, New Mexico

Peggy Maze Johnson
Citizen Alert
Las Vegas, NV

Paul Schwartz
Clean Water Action
Washington, D.C.

Joni Arends
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Sheri Kotowski
Embudo Valley Environmental Monitoring Group
Dixon, New Mexico

Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
New York, New York

Penelope McMullen, SL
Loretto Community
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Geoffrey H. Fettus
Natural Resources Defense Council
Washington, D.C.

Douglas Meiklejohn
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Carah Ong
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Washington, D.C.

Jay Coghlan
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Mavis Belisle
Peace Farm
Panhandle, Texas

Robert K. Musil, Ph.D. M.P.H.
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Washington, D.C.

Erin Hamby
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center
Boulder, Colorado

Jeremy Maxand
Snake River Alliance
Boise, Idaho

Tonya Kleuskens
STAND, Inc.
Amarillo, Texas

State Representative Nan Grogan Orrock
Women Legislator's Lobby, President
Atlanta, Georgia

Bryony Schwan
Women's Voices for the Earth
Missoula, Montana

David Krieger, Ph.D., J.D.
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Santa Barbara, CA

David Close, PhD
East TN St. Univ.
Johnson City, TN

Mary Ellen Marucci
Cooperative Citizen's Monitoring Network
New Haven, CT

Virginia Egan
Half Moon Rising, Inc.
Nashua, NH

caron balkany
ecoed
santa fe, NM

Judy Treichel
Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force
Las Vegas, NV

John LaForge
Nukewatch
Luck, Wisconsin

Carol Williams
ECO-Action
Atlanta, GA

Maria Genne
Minneapolis, MN

John Steinbach
Hiroshima/Nagasaki Peace committee
Manassas, VA

Susan Maret, Ph.D.
Information Ecology Associates
Denver, CO

Dean Abrahamson, M.D.,Ph.D.
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

Rochelle Becker
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
San Luis Obispo, California

Donald Keesing
Voices Opposed To Environmental Racism
Takoma Park, MD

Mary Lampert
Pilgrim Watch/Nuclear Security Coaltion
Duxbury, MA

Norm Buske
The RadioActivist Campaign
Belfair, Washington

Terry Nordbrock
Families Against Cancer & Toxics (FACT)
Tucson, AZ

Michael Perkins
AMMD
Minnetonka, MN

sandra felton
Hennepin County
Eden Prairie, MN

Margaret Brooke Anthony
Minneapolis, MN

Sue Halligan
Woodbury, MN

Bert Golding, ENG
Gray Panthers of Houston
Houston, TX

Ellie Norton
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
Durham, NC

Richard Keller
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
Morro Bay, CA

Laura Olah
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
Merrimac, WI

Carol Masters
Phil Berrigan DU Coalition
Minneapolis, MN

Daya Fisch
Breast Health Project
Pacific Grove, CA

David Lopez and Maria Santelli
Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice
Albuquerque, NM

Susu Jeffrey
Friends of Coldwater
Minneapolis MN

William Hooker, Sr.
Ga. Bowhunter Supply Co. Inc.
Appling, GA

Robert Gould, MD
SF-Bay Area Chapter, PSR
Berkeley, CA

Ernest Goitein
P.L.A.N.
Atherton, CA

Barbara Schreiber
East of the River
Milwaukee, WI

Kayode Sanusi-A
Jamaica, NY

sandra lilligren
clarkston, WA

Melissa Pappas
Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace
St. Paul, MN

ralph hutchison
Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance
Oak Ridge, TN

Elaine Cimino
Citizens for Environmental Safeguards (CES)
Santa Fe NM

Glenn Carroll
Georgians Against Nuclear Energy
Atlanta, GA

Rhonda Moore
Lathrup Village, MI

Lawrence Wittner
Albany, NY

Joan Meierotto, RN
Land Use Coalition Afton, MN

Lisa Crawford
Fernald Residents For Environmental Safety & Health, Inc.
Harrison, OH

Kathleen Burns, Ph.D.
Sciencecorps.org
Lexington, Mass.

Kate Boniske
Arden, NC

Andreas Rosenberg, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

LaDonna Williams
People for Children's Health & Environmental Justice
Vallejo, CA

Vernon Brechin
AE Systems
Mountain View, CA

Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
Livermore, CA

Solar Sat Law
Inca Permaculture
Santa Fe, NM

Above 80 signatures as of 8:30 a.m. ET, Thursday, August 4, 2005

Jacob Jesson
Madison, WI

Francy Jesson
Madison, WI

Claire Kowemecewa-Poncho
Concerned person-Tribal Employee
Laguna, NM

Wenonah Hauter
Public Citizen
Washington, DC

Janet Brown
Former Nuclear Weapons Engineer
Disabled Employee of Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant
Denver, CO

Marci R. Culley, Ph.D.
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA

Howard Wilshire, PhD
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Sebastopol, CA

Brett Bursey
SC Progressive Network
Columbia, SC

Jennifer Turner
Charleston, SC

Joy Nelson, MSW
Minneapolis, MN

Theo Colborn, Ph.D.
TEDX, Inc. (The Endocrine Disruption Exchange)
Paonia, CO

Lewis Patrie, M.D.
Western N. C. Physicians for Social Responsibility
Asheville, NC

Sara Barczak
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Savannah, GA

James Salsman
Mountain View, CA

Ken Tivey
Saint Paul, MN

Frank Settle
Washington & Lee University
Lexington, VA

Jan Misquez
Center For Community Action and Environmental Justice
San Bernardino, CA

Sherlina Nageer
Literacy for Environmental Justice
San Francisco, CA

Lisa Ledwidge
Minneapolis, MN

Jane Nielson
Sebastopol Water Information Group
Sebastopol, CA

Alfred Aeppli
Saint Paul, MN

Johnny White
Community Health Initative
Richmond, CA

Eldila Almonte
Educators for Social Responsibility
New York, NY

Tom White
Interfaith Peacemakers of Edina
edina , MN

Devin McConkey
Venice, CA

Sam Penney
Fairfax, VA

Donna Garrison
Austin, TX

kim reichart
baltimore, MD

Forrest McMunn
Bloomington, IN

Stephanie Longley
Dublin, OH

Ruth Bassett
Fresno, CA

Kristin Isler
Greensboro, NC

Dori Bernstein
Oak Park, IL

Lynn Barris
Butte Environmental Council
Chico, CA

Dave Michaels
Silver Spring, MD

Victoria Zolenski
Tucson, AZ

Louis Ricciuti
Citizens Oversight Committee & The Bomb That Fell On Niagara
Niagara-Lewiston, NY

Floyd Sands
FIST-Families In Search of Truth
Fallon, NV

Daniel Fine
PSR-Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA

Jennifer O. Viereck
HOME: Healing Ourselves & Mother Earth
Tecopa CA

Jesse N. Marquez
Coalition For A Safe Environment
Wilmington, CA

Patti Landres
Wayzata, MN

Peggy M. Shepard
West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT)
New York NY

Mary Beaudoin
Women Against Military Madness
Minneapolis, MN

John Stevens
Chairman Green Party San Bernardino County
Tecopa, CA

Mary Ann Beattie
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Kansas Chapter
Wichita, KS

Polly Mann
Women Against Military Madness
Minneapolis, MN

Ajamu Sankofa
New York City Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility
New York, NY

James Rauch
F.A.C.T.S. (For A Clean Tonawanda Site), Inc.
Tonawanda, NY

Richard Gibson
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Greater Kansas City, MO

Jennifer Ashby
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Greater Kansas City, KS

Joe Maner
Effingham County Georgia Citizen
Guyton, GA

Sheila Haney
League of Women Voters of SC
Hartsville, SC

Kim Storm
YWCA of Duluth Breast Cancer Awareness Program
Duluth, MN

Jonathan Parfrey
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Lynne Nelson
Palouse, WA

Whitney Morris
The Water Portfolio, Lindsay LLC
Concord, MA

Vincent Garry
Environmental Med and Path;UMN
Mpls, MN

Edith A. Smart
Inland Empire Debating Society
San Bernardino, CA

renate kasak
Bloomington, IN

Margaret Schally
St. Paul, MN

Chris Papadopoulos
Dept. of Civil Engineering & Mechanics, UW-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI

Janet Nichols-Elliott
C.L.E.A.N.U.P.
Sugar Creek, MO

Above 153 signatures as of 3:00 p.m. ET, Tuesday, August 9, 2005

suzanne rosenblatt
Grass Roots
milwaukee, WI

Marge Goetsch
E-Council - University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI

Lisa Simer
Women's Cancer Resource Center
Minneapolis, MN

Olivia Andrews
Earthlife Africa
Cape Town, South Africa

Charles Weems
Seattle, WA

Joseph Duerksen
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Roeland Park, KS

Kay Warren
Portland, OR

Sunil Aggarwal
WA Physicians for Social Responsibility
Seattle, WA

Pluma Beyer
Mountain City, TN

Jenefer Ellingston
Statehood Green Party
Washington , DC

Susan Bloomfield
Georgia Savannah River Group Sierra Club
Augusta, GA

Adele Kushner
Action for a Clean Environment
Alto, GA

Shiney Varghese
Minneapolis, MN

david hickey
retired professor/editor
okemos, MI

Jacquelyn Wilson
Escondido, CA

170 signatures as of 3:00 p.m. ET, Friday, August 12, 2005

R. D. Levno
R. D. Levno Consulting
Anchorage, AK

Ann Behrmann
Physicians for Social Responsibility Madison Chapter
Madison, WI

Bob Kinsey
Colorado Coalition for Prevention of Nuclear War

Denver, Colorado

173 signatures as of 9:00 a.m. ET, Sunday, August 14, 2005

Stephanie Chalupka
Grafton Board of Health
Grafton, MA

Henry Mayer, MD
Woodside, CA

Michele Rene Weston
Nuclear-Free Texas
Bastrop County, TX

K. Feilmeyer
St. Paul, MN

Grace Singh Bhairo
TEJ Enterprises
Bay Point, CA

Lauren J Sullivan
Santa Maria, CA

Devra Davis
Center for Environmental Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
Pittsburgh, PA

Marlene Zaretsky
Toronto

Janet Greenwald
Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping
Albuq., NM

Olga Delgado
Physicians for Social Responsibility/Chicago Chapter
Chicago, IL

Tara Thornton
Military Toxics Project
Lewiston, ME

Brent Buechel
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Environmental Council
Milwaukee, WI

Joe Maner
Guyton, GA

Katie & Rick Fournier
Minneapolis, MN

Sibyl Diver
Seattle, WA

Steve Anthony
Minneapolis, MN

Stan Jacobson
Saint Paul, MN

Kate Zaidan
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Philadelphia, PA

Tracey Heatherington
UWM Environmental Council
Milwaukee, WI

Foad Alvandi
Capitol College
Laurel, MD

196 signatures as of 2:30 p.m. ET, Friday, August 26, 2005

Richard Lancaster
Springfield, GA

Darlene Carroll
Minneapolis, MN

Judi Friedman
PACE People's Action for Clean Energy
Canton, CT

Nevin Christensen
People's Action for Clean Energy
West Simsbury, CT

M. Gertrude Martin
Woodbury, CT

Elizabeth Vitale
Hartford, CT

Patricia Bolles
New London, CT

Martha Vinick
West Hartford, CT

Charles Morgan
Willimantic, CT

Noel Rowe
Charlestown, RI

Lynn Johnson
Center for Serenity, Inc.
Hartford, CT

Ken Owen
PACE Peoples Action for Clean Energy
West Granby, CT

Barbara Backman
PACE
Canton, CT

Elizabeth Burr
Women Against Military Madness
St. Paul, MN

Lydia Straus-Edwards
Straus-Edwards Associates, Architects
San Diego, CA

Dave Robinson
Pax Christi USA
Erie, PA

Loretta Wrobel
Ashford, CT

Bill Heavens
Hope4Kids2
Mesa, AZ

Donna Grant
Melrose, CT

217 signatures as of 6:30 p.m. ET, Thursday, September 1, 2005