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Coalition Asks EPA to Impose Stricter Emission Rules By Debbie Howlett, USA Today Chicago – A coalition of environmental groups asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to impose strict clean-air standards on aging electric power plants by forcing utilities to cut mercury emissions by 90%. Such as move would be the first substantial federal regulation of emissions at 600 coal-burning power plants nationwide. The plants were exempted from most pollution controls when Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970. The plants emit as much as 51 tons of mercury into the air each year, according to the EPA. That’s about one-third of all mercury emissions in the USA. "The EPA needs to send a signal to the power companies to retire these old dinosaurs and replace them," says Felice Stadler of the Clean Air Network, an alliance of nearly 1,000 environmental groups. "Otherwise, the issue of mercury is not going to go away." Mercury emissions are produced when coal is burned in power plants to heat water that produces steam to crank huge turbines that generate electricity. Emissions from the incinerated coal (which contains mercury naturally) are blown up to 600 miles from the plant, settling in lakes and rivers. Mercury is so prevalent in the environment that 41 states have issued warnings about eating mercury-tainted fish, which can cause brain damage. The emissions are concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast but affect the entire nation. In a report to Congress last year, the EPA cited mercury as the hazardous air pollutant it is most concerned about. The EPA now has until mid December to decide if it should impose regulations on the coal-fired plants. It held the first and only public hearing on the issue Tuesday in Chicago, the U.S. metropolitan area most affected by mercury emissions. If the EPA does impose new regulations, the rules would take into effect in 2008. Electric company representatives at the hearing conceded the dangers of mercury contamination, but they argued that scientific research has not yet proved that what’s coming out of the smokestack is going into rivers and other waterways. "We simply don’t know if decreasing emissions will decrease mercury in the fish," said Ralph Roberson, a consultant to power companies. Environmentalists say the EPA should have acted 30 years ago to close the loophole for coal-fired plants that was in the Clean Air Act. Utilities at the time said that the plants would be economically obsolete in 10 years. Instead, says Andy Bucksbaum of the National Wildlife Federation, the plants have been renovated rather than closed because new ones would require using natural gas instead of coal, which is cheaper. Bucksbaum said that if the EPA doesn’t adopt new regulations, environmentalists hope to push through legislation sponsored by Sen. Jim Jeffords, R-Vt., and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to order the EPA to impose standards. Susan Jones of the Natural Resource Council in Maine testified at the hearing that the jet stream has carried mercury emissions from states to the west and south of Maine, causing mercury advisories to be posted on all 2,314 lakes in the state. "Maine has no coal-fired plants," she said, "yet (it) has some of the highest levels of mercury in fish and loons in the country." USA Today, June 14, 2000 | Home | News | CAM | Training | FTP Library | Projects | Links | Contact | Services | Feedback | RMB Consulting &
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