The EPA holds its first public hearing on the subject at their regional headquarters in downtown Chicago. For 10 years, the electric utility industry has enjoyed special treatment under the Clean Air Act for its toxic air releases. The EPA scheduled the June 13th public hearing to solicit last-minute input before deciding whether to require power plants to reduce their mercury emissions.
Power plants are the largest known unregulated source of mercury air pollution in the nation.
Like lead, mercury can have devastating, irreversible effects on children, infants and the unborn. The price we already pay for the health and ecological damage caused by power plant mercury emissions is much, much higher than the costs of controlling them. The EPA report warns the public, particularly children and women of child-bearing years, of the risks of eating fish contaminated with mercury and other chemicals. The report also indicates that industrial emissions remain a significant source of the mercury that contaminates fish. Our health and the health of our children depend on it.