The federal government announced Thursday that it will require coal-fired power plants to reduce mercury emissions, which one estimate says are higher in northeastern Illinois than in any other metropolitan region in the country. But how the emissions will be reduced, or even how much they will be cut, remains to be worked out over the next three years. Environmental groups say the new regulations will help keep mercury from working its way through the food chain from fish to humans. Midwest Generation, the owner of five coal-fired plants in northeastern Illinois, said it has been expecting the Environmental Protection Agency ruling and plans to work with the agency as the rules are developed.
Coal contains mercury, a heavy metal.
Forty-one states, including Illinois, warn people to limit the amount of sport fish they eat. The greatest risk is to the fetuses of pregnant women who eat contaminated fish. A panel of scientists convened this summer by the National Academy of Sciences estimated that 600,000 children are born each year who were exposed to mercury levels that could cause neurological and learning problems. Illinois ranked fourth nationwide in the amount of mercury emitted by power plants, according to 1998 figures. Midwest Generation bought its plants from Commonwealth Edison a year ago.