Clean Water Plan Wins Ballot Spot

A proposal designed to prevent the release of cancer-causing chemicals into drinking water and to stiffen penalties against toxic polluters became the fifth and final initiative Thursday to qualify for the Nov. 4 ballot.

Billed by its backers as a measure to “get tough on toxics,” the initiative would also require that anyone who uses carcinogenic chemicals must provide a warning to Californians who would be exposed.

“This law puts teeth into toxic regulation,” said Tom Epstein, campaign manager for the initiative. “It says clearly that industry may not pollute California drinking water with cancer-causing chemicals and severely punishes those who do.”

The measure, which was drafted by environmentalists and key campaign strategists of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, is expected to face heavy opposition from business and agriculture.

Attract Voters

Democrats hope the presence of the initiative on the November ballot will help Bradley in his campaign to unseat Gov. George Deukmejian by attracting voters who otherwise might not go to the polls. Bradley, who has endorsed the initiative, has attempted to make Deukmejian’s toxic waste cleanup record a major issue in the campaign.

“Now we will be able to vote on the nation’s toughest anti-toxic pollution law and ensure that anyone who poisons our drinking water will be prosecuted,” Bradley said in a statement, after Secretary of State March Fong Eu announced that the measure had qualified.

Earlier in the day, Deukmejian told reporters that he has no position on the measure. However, the Republican governor characterized the initiative as a political maneuver by Democrats to place the toxics issue on the same ballot he will share with the mayor.

“People in Mayor Bradley’s office were responsible for putting it on the ballot, and so I’m sure that everyone recognizes that there is some partisan politics involved in it,” Deukmejian said.

Bradley’s gubernatorial campaign chairman, Tom Quinn, was involved in the early planning of the toxics measure. His campaign vice chairwoman, Mary Nichols, and Deputy Mayor Tom Houston helped draft it.

Specifically, the measure would:

- Require the governor to publish a list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer or birth defects.

- Make it illegal to intentionally release any of these substances into drinking water.

- Require that anyone who intentionally exposes people to any of these chemicals must first warn them.

- Stiffen penalties for violations of toxics laws, including increasing the maximum fine for illegal dumping from $50,000 to $100,000.

Illegal dumping that caused bodily injury would be punishable by imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to $250,000 for each day of the violation. A government employee who knows of an illegal discharge and takes no action could be imprisoned for up to three years and fined between $5,000 and $25,000.

- Use money collected from toxics fines to strengthen local enforcement and reduce toxic cleanup fees paid by companies that do not break the law.

- Permit any private citizen to file suit to enforce the law, if government agencies fail to act within 60 days.

At a press conference, four Democratic legislators contended that the measure is a nonpartisan proposal that they believe will appeal to voters of both parties.

“It says you can’t pollute water in the future,” Assemblyman Lloyd G. Connelly of Sacramento said. “It says you have to give warning for persons who are exposed to toxic substances that cause cancer and birth defects.”

Such a measure could not gain passage in the Legislature or approval of the governor, because of opposition from influential business and agriculture interests, said Assemblyman Tom Hayden of Santa Monica, another supporter.

In his statement, Bradley said: “For more than three years, George Deukmejian has refused to join the fight against toxic poison. But now we have the opportunity to bypass the governor and force government to act against companies that dump cancer-causing substances into California’s drinking water.”

Kirk West, president of the California Chamber of Commerce and a former top Deukmejian Administration official, said in an interview that business and farming interests will mount a strong campaign to defeat the initiative, because it would impose unnecessary regulations.

“From the standpoint of industry and agriculture, this initiative could be very damaging, while at the same time not providing any real environmental benefit,” West said. “This initiative really represents massive overkill.”

The toxics initiative joined four others that previously qualified for the November ballot:

- A measure, sponsored by tax crusader Paul Gann, that would limit the pay of government employees to no more than 80% of the governor’s salary, which would be set at $80,000.

- An initiative sponsored by Howard Jarvis, Gann’s fellow tax protester, that would make it more difficult to raise local taxes by requiring a two-thirds vote of a local government body, plus majority approval by the voters.

- A measure backed by followers of Lyndon LaRouche that would put pressure on health officials to quarantine thousands of AIDS victims and others suspected of carrying the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus.

- A proposal by former U.S. Sen. S. I. Hayakawa to declare English the state’s official language, potentially eliminating bilingual education, bilingual election ballots and other official documents printed in other languages.