As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work,
Environment North Carolina can be contacted with any questions regarding this
news release.
RESEARCH
TRIANGLE PARK—The EPA is seeking to weaken already inadequate mercury
control requirements for new power plants, according to the North
Carolina Public Interest Research Group (NCPIRG). The agency held a
public hearing today covering this proposal in connection with its
reconsideration, on technical bases only, of two highly controversial
mercury rules that were finalized this spring.
“The
Bush administration’s mercury policy has been a charade from day one,”
said NCPIRG Field Organizer Breanna Peterson. “Incredibly, the
administration is now trying to take advantage of a procedural opening
occasioned by its own mistakes to further weaken mercury protections.”
The
rules in question give power plants an additional 10-20 years to reduce
their mercury pollution. One rule declares that mercury emissions from
power plants “do not pose hazards to public health” and rescinds a 2000
EPA determination that power plants must reduce mercury emissions by
the maximum achievable extent within a three-year period—about 90% by
2008. The other rule establishes an industry-favored “cap-and-trade”
system for mercury emissions from power plants that delays
mercury-specific controls until at least 2018 and allows power plants
to buy and trade the right to pollute.
After
the rules were issued, the National Association of State PIRGs and
other environmental and public health groups petitioned the EPA for
reconsideration. The agency granted reconsideration on October 21 and
reopened both rules for comment. The agency also used the reopening to
propose even weaker mercury control requirements, called “new source
performance standards,” for new coal-fired power plants.
Martha
Keating, appearing on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups,
including U.S. PIRG, an organization that represents NCPIRG on federal
issues, and Native American tribes, delivered more than 18,000 citizen
petitions calling for strong mercury protections that comply with the
law and protect public health. Keating—a toxics scientist who was a
principal and contributing author, while at the EPA, of reports to
Congress on U.S. mercury emissions and utility emissions of hazardous
air pollutants including mercury—also testified that the
administration’s rules are illegal, unreasonable, and contrary to the
vast majority of the science on mercury.
“The
Bush administration continues to ignore the law and the science on
mercury,” said Peterson. “Instead of fixing the rules to protect public
health, the administration is fixing the rules for the benefit of power
companies.”
Mercury
is a potent neurotoxin that can affect the brain, heart, and immune
system. Developing fetuses and children are especially at risk; even
low-level exposure to mercury can cause learning disabilities,
developmental delays, lowered IQ, and problems with attention and
memory. EPA scientists estimate that one in six women has enough
mercury in her body to put her child at risk should she become pregnant.
The
primary pathway for human exposure to mercury is by eating fish. North
Carolina, which ranks 10th in the nation for mercury pollution from
power plants, has mercury-related fish consumption advisories covering
227,164 lake acres and 4,361 river miles. In 2001, spending on
recreational fishing topped $1.1 billion in the state.
Power
plants are the largest source of mercury emissions in the U.S.,
contributing 41 percent of the total each year. Technologies to reduce
mercury emissions have been used on municipal and medical waste
incinerators for nearly a decade and have been successfully
demonstrated on all major types of coal in numerous full-scale tests at
coal-fired power plants. Moreover, numerous plants have already agreed
to install mercury-specific controls, and several commercial contracts
for mercury control systems have already been awarded.
“With
effective, affordable mercury controls already available, there is no
excuse for power plants to keep pumping toxic mercury into our
environment,” Peterson said. “We know how to solve this problem. What
we need is the political will to ensure mercury cuts in this decade, as
the Clean Air Act requires, instead of years into the future.”
