As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work,
Environment North Carolina can be contacted with any questions regarding this
news release.
RALEIGH—Standing beside
a giant inflated model of a fish in Raleigh today, the North Carolina Public
Interest Research Group (NCPIRG) and the NC Wildlife Federation called on Reps.
Bob Etheridge, David Price and Brad Miller to oppose the Bush administration's
highly controversial mercury plan.
Eating mercury-contaminated
fish is the primary way people are exposed to mercury, a highly toxic chemical
that can cause learning disabilities, developmental delays, and problems with
fine motor coordination in children. Clean air supporters in the House of Representatives,
led by Congressmen Jim Cooper and Tom Allen, are working send the Bush administration
back to the drawing board to strengthen its mercury proposal, which would allow
power plants to emit six to seven times more mercury for a decade longer than
the Clean Air Act requires. NCPIRG called on Representatives Price, Miller,
and Etheridge to join the effort by signing the Congressmen's letter to EPA
Administrator Mike Leavitt.
"People in Raleigh
should be able to eat fish without worrying that it is contaminated with mercury,"
said David Knight, Chief Lobbyist for the NC Wildlife Federation.
Power plants are the nation's
largest industrial source of mercury emissions. They are allowed to emit unlimited
amounts of mercury into the air, which then mixes with rain and snow, falls
onto the land and into water bodies, and ultimately enters the food chain.
North Carolina has posted
health warnings for mercury covering lakes and streams south and east of I-85—two-thirds
of the state. These advisories urge women of childbearing age to avoid consumption
of largemouth bass, chain pickerel, and bowfin due to high levels of mercury.
"One in six women of
childbearing age has unsafe levels of mercury in her blood. This means that
630,000 of the four million babies that are born each year already have been
exposed to enough mercury to cause serious health problems," said Elizabeth
Ouzts, director of the NC Public Interest Research Group (NCPIRG). "This
is no time for the Bush administration to weaken public health protections."
Like lead, mercury is a
neurotoxin that is particularly dangerous to fetuses, infants, and young children
because their brains are developing. When a pregnant woman eats mercury-contaminated
fish, the mercury can cross the placenta and enter her baby's brain. Infants
can ingest mercury from breast milk, and children eat mercury-contaminated tuna
sandwiches and other fish.
"The Bush administration
should start protecting our children's health and the environment," concluded
Ouzts.
