For years, Northeastern states have criticized their Midwestern
neighbors for the high levels of nitrous-oxide and sulfur emissions from
that region’s power plants. The pollution is believed to drift
northward,
causing smog and acid rain. This winter, attorneys for the states and
the
Environmental Protection Agency will meet in Federal court, to decide
whether the EPA has authority to regulate the power plants. As the
Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Brian Mann reports, now that a last-minute
compromise has fallen through, all sides are gearing up for a legal
battle
that could take years:
Tag: smokestacks
Clean Water Act Fights Air Pollution
Public health officials say mercury is proving to be one of the most
troublesome pollutants. While mercury causes brain and reproductive
damage, it’s very difficult to capture and very difficult to clean up.
But in northern Minnesota, people are trying an innovative approach to
the mercury problem, and they’re using an obscure part of the clean
water act. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill
reports:
Mercury Emissions Hit the ‘Net’
The U-S Environmental Protection Agency will soon require some coal-burning power plants to report how much mercury their smokestacks are emitting. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports that the E-P-A will post the information on the Internet: