"We call ourselves the living dead."

Government departments like the EPA are meant to protect us right? Not necessarily. What other purpose could they possibly have? A new article on Salon.com reports the awful truth. If you find it difficult to focus on a very long, yet good article, there are some highlights below. Should we push for more regulation, now that it may be too late for nearly all sections of our decrepit government? I think we already know my answer.

Beneath the Alvarados' house and those of their neighbors are shallow pools of groundwater that are polluted with tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, a chemical associated with cancer, liver and kidney disease... On cool or rainy days, when the Alvarados close the windows and shut off the air conditioning, a sweet chemical smell floods the house. When they eat dinner during these times, says Robert, 66, it's like tasting something acrid. "We drink bottled water but there's nothing we can do about the air except go outside and wait," says Lupe, 64.

"We call ourselves the living dead."

A survey by the University of Texas found that 91 percent of adults in the area experienced multiple illnesses.

Although it has conducted limited testing, the EPA acknowledges that it's possible for PCE vapor to rise from groundwater into people's living rooms and kitchens. Yet it says the Alvarados and their neighbors have nothing to fear.

"It feels like Stalin-era Russia, like the administration [Bush] set themselves up to decide what's allowable science and what isn't," says a high-ranking staff scientist at the EPA.

Public health officials say this attempt to derail the scientific evaluation of toxins is one of the most damning legacies of the Bush administration.

Although not widely known, the Integrated Risk Information System [IRIS] is a database that houses the scientific analyses of toxic chemicals. It's the foundation for most environmental regulations in the U.S. and beyond.

...because the human population is so diverse, there's always an inherent uncertainty of how one person may react to low levels of exposure versus his neighbor.

Not incidentally, under Gray's tenure at the EPA, the agency has lowered the economic value of human life by nearly $1 million, or 11 percent. A human life is now worth just under $7 million. Such calculations are critical when government determines whether a proposed regulation is financially cost-effective to enforce.

Concurrently, a preliminary EPA review of trichloroethylene (TCE), used by the military to degrease jets and metal parts, found that the chemical was up to 40 times more likely to cause cancer than was previously believed.

The plan that emerged calls for expanding the role of other federal agencies in determining which chemicals are assessed each year. It allows agencies like the Pentagon, Department of Energy and NASA to identify "mission critical" chemicals to the agency's operations.

Already, say critics, it's possible to determine how the influence of the Pentagon and other agencies will play out. In the past two years, since Gray has been at the agency, the EPA has produced more than 40 chemical assessments. Yet only four evaluations met OMB approval and were finalized. The EPA, which should be completing 50 per year to stay current, faces a backlog of 70 chemical assessments in need of updating.

Yet because IRIS is so obscure, it's doubtful there will be a national clamor demanding restoration of EPA control. And that makes it easy for politicians to maintain the status quo, says David Michaels, a professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health.