You Can Help Stop Toxic Mercury Emissions Before it's Too Late!

May 22, 2004

http://mercola.com/2004/mar/17/mercury_emissions.htm

Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury emissions in the country and are a major reason why many of the nation’s fish are too toxic to eat.

Under court order, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a set of rules to regulate mercury emissions from the 1,100 to 1,200 U.S. coal-fired power plants, but the proposed rules are even less strict than the federal Clean Air Act.

While The Clean Air Act calls for a 90 percent to 95 percent reduction in mercury emissions by 2007, the new rules propose a target of a 29 percent reduction by 2007 and an industry-wide reduction of 70 percent by 2018. Further, the proposed rules do not regulate the emissions as a hazardous air pollutant, despite the known toxic effects of mercury emissions, and experts agree the rules do not protect the people, fish or environment.

In addition to mercury, which can cause numerous health problems in humans, including damage to the central nervous system and neurological and developmental problems, coal-fired plants emit four additional pollutants: sulfur dioxide, the leading cause of acid rain; nitrogen oxides, which contribute to smog-forming ground-level ozone; carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas implicated in global warming; and lung-damaging soot particles, known as "fly ash."

Perhaps the worst part of the proposed rules is that technology exists to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent. But under the proposed regulations, coal-fired power plants will not be required to use the technology. Further, the rules actually “allow the biggest polluters to essentially buy pollution credits from companies that emit less mercury than allowed in a system called ‘cap and trade’."

Many say that the environmental regulations are being heavily influenced by the electrical power industry, which argues that it will be impossible to meet the 90 percent mercury deadline by 2007.

The Washington Post March 15, 2004

The Bozeman Chronicle March 13, 2004