In The News U.S. Clean Water Plan To Ban Chlorine? (Pool and Spa News, volume 33, number 5 March 9, 1994) EPA may bar chemical from thousands of applications - including water treatment by Eric Herman Washington, D.C. In one of the most sweeping attacks ever on chlorine and chlorine-based products, the Clinton Administration announced a Clean Water Plan that could eventually eliminate the chemical's used in thousands of products and applications. The announcement, made Feb. 1 by Carol Browner, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was immediately embraced by environmental groups favoring a broad ban on chlorine - and just as swiftly, assailed by representatives of the chemical manufacturing industry. As Fred Weber, president of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, Told USA Today, "There is only one word to describe our industry's reaction: outrage". On the other side of the fence, those favoring the ban bailed the announcement as a major positive step. Activists claim that chlorine destroys the environment and presents a health risk to people eating fish in waters contaminated with chlorine-containing compounds. The plan would call for the elimination of chlorine in the manufacture of textiles, paper, pharmaceuticals and in basic water treatment. The proposal would give industry time to develop alternatives - a process that could cost tens of billions of dollars. Reaction from the pool and spa industry was swift as well: "This just doesn't make any sense," said Dave Karmol, director of government relations with the National Spa and Pool Institute. "The Clinton Administration's proposal doesn't take into account the wide range of applications of chlorine or and of its benefits to society." In response to the proposed ban on the 17th atomic element, NSPI has prepared a fact sheet that lists the benefits of chlorine and points out its widespread use in a variety of industries. According to the sheet, "This proposal is not based on good science and would be detrimental to the health and economic situation of all Americans". In a related story, also published in USA Today, a joint U.S./ Canadian scientific advisory commission has issued a statement blaming chlorine for "startling health problems" and calling for both countries to ban it from the marketplace. "There's enough evidence to suggest that we need to deal with the problem," said Gordon Durnill, U.S. chairman of the commission. Those problems, said the commission, include increased incidents of breast cancer, learning disabilities and behavioral problems in children and increased in male reproductive disorders. "It's one of the most important environmental policy statements ever made," noted Bonnie Rice of Greenpeace.