"Last month, the Pentagon and several of its top contractors found an open door in President Obama’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss potential new health standards for perchlorate. Perchlorate is one of a number of controversial substances used by Pentagon contractors that are known to adversely affect human health. The meeting was the latest maneuver in a long-running campaign — aimed at influencing environmental standards that could mean major new cleanups and liability costs for the military and its subsidiaries — that began in an obscure but powerful office established by the Bush-era Department of Defense (DOD)."

Adam Sarvana reports for the NRNS's Washington Bureau July 2, 2009, in the first of a multi-part investigative series. [2]