While the EPA restricts mercury in other industries, it does not regulate these harmful power plant emissions. Congress exempted these emissions from the Clean Air Act in 1990, and then further delayed action in 1998. Each year, these utility and industry power plants emit more than 100,000 pounds of mercury. It goes into the air and falls back down in rain and snow to poison the waters. A minuscule amount of mercury goes a long way.
Mercury concentrates as it moves up the food chain.
It damages nervous and reproductive systems, making it a serious threat to public health. Forty states, including all of those in the upper Midwest, issue advisories warning people to severely limit or avoid fish consumption. Mercury regulation is urgently needed and worthy of strong public support, but the utility and industry lobbyists have lined up to kill it. Think about that the next time you eat fish or enjoy your favorite lake or stream.