Feds Get an Earful on Mercury Proposal

The Environmental Protection Agency will soon make a decision about how quickly power plants must reduce mercury emissions. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports:

Transcript

The Environmental Protection Agency will soon make a decision about how quickly power plants must reduce mercury emissions. The Great Lake Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports:


Mercury poisoning is related to numerous chronic ailments, including severe kidney damage. In January of this year, the Bush administration issued a proposal to lower mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by 54% within 14 years.


Kate Madigan with the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan says Bush’s proposal is not strong enough.


“The current mercury proposal would allow 6-7 times more mercury into the nation’s air and for at least a decade longer than the Clean Air Act would allow if faithfully implemented.”


The public comment period on the proposed regulation ended on June 28th. The EPA says more than 600,000 Americans sent in letters over the past six months. That’s nearly three times as many comments as the agency has received on any other issue. New mercury emissions regulations will be issued by December of this year.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Celeste Headlee.

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