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Guest Commentary January 21, 2002
Public Deserves Protection from Power Plant Mercury Emissions
The Honorable Olympia Snowe
The Environmental Protection Agency's mission is to serve as the public's regulator for a livable environment, to protect human health, and to safeguard our natural resources. I believe it is important for this agency and Congress to work together to meet this challenge in part by developing new regulations to reduce harmful mercury emissions by electric and coal-fired power plants.
Emissions from coal-fired power plants remain the number one unregulated source of U.S. mercury emissions. In July of 2000, the National Academy of Sciences released an independent study required by Congress on the risks of this pollutant. The study found conclusively that new guidelines are necessary and "scientifically justifiable," effectively ending a 10-year debate over new regulations between the electric industry and environmentalists.
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Mercury pollution has been shown to pose serious health risks, especially for pregnant women, and can cause irreversible nerve damage in infants and young children. Mercury is present in coal and when it is burned, fine particles are released and carried by precipitation back to earth, contaminating water bodies, fish, and wildlife, and ultimately posing a threat to humans. Nationwide, 41 states -- including Maine -- have issued public health advisories about eating certain fish in more than 50,000 bodies of water, up from 27 states in 1993.
Over the past several years, the EPA has done considerable research on the sources and effects of mercury pollution, but has very limited information on mercury releases from power plants. In 1998, I joined a bipartisan coalition of Senators, led by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, in urging then EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner to finalize criteria for gathering information on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, so that this information could be made available to the public.
The EPA should stand by its commitment to expand the public's right to know about local mercury sources by finalizing its Information Collection Request. The data collected through this effort will be valuable not only for local communities but for the agency as it contemplates how to address mercury emissions from power plants.
In December, Senator Leahy and I submitted legislation that mandates substantial reductions in mercury emissions from all major sources in the United States. While Maine ranks 49th among the most-polluting states in terms of mercury emissions, all of its lakes are under health advisories due to airborne mercury pollution from other states. This legislation will impose new restrictions on mercury emissions by utility power plants, coal and oil fired commercial boilers, solid waste incinerators, and other sources of emissions such as mercury thermometers. It will also require the separation of mercury-containing items from municipal waste, the labeling of mercury-containing products, and the eventual phase-out of mercury use in all products. Furthermore, the legislation will expand research on the effects of mercury on sensitive subpopulations, such as pregnant women and children, and directs the EPA to work with states to establish a program of long-term disposal research and publicize emission data for each facility.
These EPA efforts will work hand in hand with regional efforts to deal with mercury emissions. In 1997, the Maine Legislature passed a law that limits mercury emissions in Maine, and the State has a comprehensive strategic plan to reduce emissions at the largest mercury sources. Also, in June of 1998, the Conference of New England Governors and the Eastern Canadian Premiers came out with a draft framework for a regional Mercury Action Plan to address mercury releases and resulting public health and environmental impacts that are within the region's control or influence.
Because mercury is an element and cannot be destroyed, it cycles endlessly through the environment, necessitating control of the toxin at the source. With the technology and resources available, we can and must find creative ways to substantially reduce mercury pollution. The NAS report is a clarion call for action, and the EPA should move speedily to develop and then implement new rules to remove this harmful toxin as a threat to human health and the environment.
Olympia Snowe is a U.S. Senator (R-Maine) and writes a weekly column. The above has been adapted from her column of January 11, 2002. To contact her, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
