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May 23, 2007
For More Information Contact:
Keith Reopelle, Program Director
Clean Wisconsin
(608)
251-7020 Ext. 11
Mobile: (608) 212-2935 cell
Environmental groups urge DNR to protect children from mercury poisoning
(Madison, WI) - At a Department of Natural Resources hearing today, representatives from multiple environmental groups urged the Department to strengthen state regulations on mercury emissions from coal burning power plants. The Department is proposing to replace current laws that require a 75 percent reduction of mercury emissions by 2015 with weaker federal regulations that require a 70 percent reduction by 2018. Clean Wisconsin urged the Department to adopt regulations that require a 90 percent reduction by 2012.
"Recent studies suggest that at least 9,000 children are born in Wisconsin each year with reduced memory function, attention span and IQ due to mercury poisoning," said Keith Reopelle, Program Director for Clean Wisconsin. "There is no safe level of mercury; the lower the emissions the safer our children will be. That's why it is critical we get to 90 percent as soon as possible."
Mercury is a neuro-toxin that adversely affects the brain and nervous system development in young children and fetuses when their mothers eat mercury contaminated fish.
- The DNR is considering 4 options for dealing with mercury emissions:
- Their proposal to make Wisconsin requirements consistent with weaker federal rules, but without the federal interstate trading program;
- A citizen’s proposal from sport fishing and environmental groups asking for a 90 percent reduction by 2012 without interstate trading;
- The federal rule with an interstate trading program that would sunset; and
- The federal rule with a permanent interstate trading program.
A coalition of sport fishing, health, and environmental groups delivered a petition to the DNR in January asking the agency to amend regulations to make deeper and earlier cuts in mercury emissions from coal burning power plants and to reject the federal “cap and trade” program that would allow electric utilities to buy credits from other utilities instead of making the reductions at their own plants. The petition, submitted by Clean Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, the Izaak Walton League of America, the Yahara Fishing Club, the Sierra Club and supported by more than 50 other (mostly sport fishing) organizations seeks a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions by 2012 consistent with other Midwest states.
“We urge the DNR to follow the lead of Illinois and Minnesota; both states have adopted much more protective regulations than EPAs,” said Reopelle. “Illinois adopted regulations requiring a 90 percent reduction by 2009 without the interstate trading program; do we care less about the development of our children’s brains than Illinois does?”
Illinois adopted a rule that requires a 90 percent reduction across all coal plants by June 30, 2009, and a 90 percent reduction at each plant by December 31st, 2012; Minnesota adopted a law requiring a 90 percent reduction by 2009 or 2014 at each plant depending on the existing soot control technology.
Deposited in rain and snow, mercury enters the aquatic food chain and ultimately is consumed by humans who eat fish. Children can suffer permanent brain and nervous system damage as a result of exposure to even low levels of mercury, which frequently occurs in utero.
Scientists estimate up to 600,000 children may be born annually in the United States with neurological problems due to mercury exposure in the womb. Recent studies suggest that at least 9,000 children are born in Wisconsin each year that will experience difficulty in school because of reduced memory function, attention span and IQ resulting from mercury poisoning.
“Wisconsin has gone from being a national leader to a regional lagger when it comes to protecting our children from mercury poisoning. Instead, we are now lagging far behind other states in the region,” said Reopelle. “The technology is available at a reasonable cost; there is no reason why we can’t protect our children from mercury poisoning.”
Wisconsin was the third state in the nation to regulate mercury emissions from power plants when its regulations were put in place in October of 2004.
The Natural Resources Board is expected to make a decision on a final regulation by this fall.
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Clean Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy organization founded as Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, protects Wisconsin’s clean water and air and advocates for clean energy by being an effective voice in the state legislature and by holding elected officials and corporations accountable. Phone: 608-251-7020, Fax: 608-251-1655, Email: info@cleanwisconsin.org, Website: www.cleanwisconsin.org.