Our 5i-Team is staying on top of an investigation. An Arizona cancer
patient and his wife are waging an up-hill battle against the city,
state and federal governments, the water company and two Nevada
Corporations over a chemical they say seeped into the water supply. At
10:00 tonight, we'll have new developments in this investigation.
Remember you can always catch up with our 5i-Team's latest
investigations on our website.
THIS CAME FROM AN ARIZONA MOM WITH SICK KIDS...Thanks Carla
Bill

Remember you can always catch up with our 5i-Team's latest
investigations on our website.

http://www.kpho.com/Global/category.asp?C=12334&nav=DIH7


(CBS 5 NEWS) - An Arizona man claims Rocket Fuel contamination of the
Colorado River is to blame for his cancer, and now he and his wife are
waging an uphill battle against a long list of agencies and companies
that have come in contact with their tap water.

"I'm still kinda in shock that we're here," says Linda Curtis.

Linda and Alan Curtis have come to Phoenix for the first time in 12
years, ready for the fight of their lives.

"We're going against Kerr-McGee, Ampac, the federal government, State
of Arizona, State of Nevada," says Alan Curtis. The Bullhead City
residents are representing themselves in Federal Court. "There's not
going to be one attorney in there, they're bringing twenty of them,"

Long-odds for a blue collar couple lacking law degrees, yet armed with
research and conviction.

"It's not about money, it's about getting the water clean," explains
Linda.

Linda is talking about Colorado River water. It is contaminated with
Perchlorate, Rocket Fuel and other chemicals Alan Curtis claims have
seeped in to the Bullhead City water supply. The water the Curtis' and
their neighbors have drunk for years comes from a well less than 1000
feet away from their home. Curtis believes it caused his cancer, and
that of 11 of his neighbors.

"It affects the thyroid, and stops bone marrow production... I didn't
have any bone marrow. And then the nitrate levels that are in it
affect the spleen and I lost the spleen," says Alan.

The 59-year -old former construction worker suffers from stage four
Hodgkin's disease.

"The only common denominator is the water.. nothing else makes any
sense," says Alan.

So the couple set up shop in a small room.

"This is Curtis and Curtis..."

And have turned to federal court to get some answers. They are suing
nine defendants: The city, state and federal governments, the water
company and the two Nevada Corporations that produced the chemicals.

"The city has an allocation for Colorado river water..." says Steve
Johnson of Bullhead City.

Johnson says it's a private company that distributes it to residents,
and the state that sets the health standards.

"It's not passing the buck, what we're doing is relying on the experts
to advise us on what needs to be done for our water quality," says
Johnson.

In fact each of the nine defendants insist they have a good reason why
the finger of responsibility should be pointed somewhere else.

"We've been getting the runaround for four years," says Alan.

Reporter Mark Lodato: "But not one of the parties named in the lawsuit
is disputing the fact that perchlorate is evident in the water supply
- in fact our investigation found it has traveled hundreds of miles
from Nevada, south to the Yuma Valley. In May the Five I-team showed
you while perchlorate levels are highest in drinking water, the
chemical also seeps into our food supply."

"We're really looking at protecting pregnant women, newborns, young
children, " says Kevin Mayer of EPA.

But state and federal regulators can't agree on how much rocket fuel
in your diet is too much.

Reporter Lodato: "At what point does it become a health risk?"

"Well, that's the 64-million dollar question," says Mayer.

A National Academy of Sciences study funded by the federal government
found we can consume 24-parts-per-billion of perchlorate day without
risk to sensitive populations, but some states prefer a much lower
standard. Arizona calls 14 parts-per-billion acceptable, California:
six, Massachusetts just one.

Lodato: "So the only recourse is to haul them down to court?" Curtis
replies, "Yeah, technically you poke them in the nose."

Alan says he using the suit to find out exactly how much rocket fuel
is in the water supply in hopes the court will appoint a federal
administrator to supervise a full clean-up.

Lodato asks, "This has become your life?" Curtis says, "Yeah, that's
it. That's the only reason it didn't kill me. And like I told 'em
before, I'm not going away... So they're going to have to deal with me
'til I die."


Note: Linda and Alan Curtis survived their first hearing in federal
court. Meanwhile the judge has taken the defendants' motions to
dismiss the lawsuit under advisement. The couple is due back in court
next week. We'll keep you up to date.

07.06.05
Below,,,,,,,Rocket fuel found in Lettuce,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

About perchlorate
Alliance for Food and Farming
Arizona Dept. of Environmental Quality
Environmental Protection Agency/Perchlorate
Environmental Working Group
EPA report: known perchlorate relases in the U.S. (pdf)
National Academy of Sciences/Perchlorate

It is a staple of the produce isle ... a source of pride for growers
in the fertile Yuma valley ... one of Arizona's multi-million dollar
crops. Rich with vitamins and minerals, Arizonans also get a little
something extra in each bite of lettuce.

"Oh, it's totally shocking - rocket fuel in lettuce? How is that
possible?" asks Renee Sharp of the Environmental Working Group.

That's right - she said "rocket fuel in lettuce." Possible here in the
valley? The 5 i-Team put local supermarkets to the test - you'll see
our results in just a moment.

"We're really looking at protecting pregnant women, newborns, young
children..." says Kevin Mayer with EPA.

The U.S. Environmental Protection agency wants to protect them from
Perchlorate - the explosive component in rocket fuel. The chemical has
contaminated the Colorado River which serves as the lifeblood for
Arizona's agriculture industry in the Yuma valley. It is a short trip
from the river, to the crops and into our homes. The federal
government says too much perchlorate can have an adverse affect on the
thyroid.

"The thyroid hormones the gland produces actually controls brain
development and organ development," says Sharp.

Reporter Mark Lodato asks, "At what point does it become a health risk?"

"Well, that's the $64 million question," replies Mayer.

Despite more than a decade of research, scientists have yet to agree
on how much perchlorate is too much. We traveled to Oakland California
to pose the question to Renee Sharp, senior analyst for the
Environmental Working Group and co-author of `Suspect Salads.'

"We're concerned about perchlorate at levels of above one
part-per-billion," says Sharp.

So what's in your salad? The 5 i-Team went undercover - buying heads
of lettuce at eight different valley supermarkets and then we shipped
the samples to a lab in New York, and took the results to Sharp.

Reporter Lodato asks, "Are these the kind of result that would concern
you?" Sharp replies, "Oh, absolutely, absolutely."

Our samples, purchased right here in Valley, found perchlorate in
every head of lettuce. Levels as low as 3.9 ppb, as high as 12. Is
that too much? The federal government has yet to set an official
perchlorate standard, but the Environmental Working Group is already
convinced.

"I think it could definitely be a health issue," Sharp says.

Growers in the Yuma valley refused our requests to discuss the
contamination on camera and instead referred us to industry groups
like the Alliance for Food and Farming.

"We've done a significant amount of work on this issue in terms of the
science behind it and we're extremely confident in the safety of the
lettuce," says Teresa Thorne. She calls perchlorate levels in lettuce
insignificant, because we just don't eat that much each day. The
industry cites this recent National Academy of Science review
Commissioned by the Federal Government. THIS study found we can
consume about 24-parts-per billion of perchlorate a day.
"If there is a risk it would be insignificant to the population which
includes infants, children, pregnant women," says Thorne.

But advocates like Sharp say it all adds up.

Sharp says, "We know perchlorate is in milk, perchlorate is in other
types of vegetables and fruits, and we know perchlorate is in drinking
water."

Lodato says, "Although growers have been forced to address the issue,
the contamination certainly isn't their fault. The source of the
rocket fuel is actually hundreds of miles up the Colorado River, in
another state."

A rocket-fuel plant outside of Las Vegas began leaking perchlorate
into Lake Mead and the Colorado shortly after World War II. Today
cleanup operations have greatly reduced, but not eliminated rocket
fuel levels in the river that winds its way right into your home.

"And when we find it, we should be forcing the companies that create
it to clean it up quickly, so that people don't have to sit there and
when they have to go to the grocery store and have to wonder, I wonder
if this head of lettuce is safe," says Sharpe.

EPA report: known perchlorate relases in the U.S.