What is the United States government doing to minimize mercury pollution?
In short, not quite enough. In 1990, the current Clean Air Act amendment required the EPA to study whether regulating hazardous air pollution from power plants was necessary to protect public health. Ten years later, in December 2000, EPA concluded that it is necessary to regulate hazardous power plant air pollutants, including mercury. Under the law, the agency is required to set emissions limits for these hazardous power plant air pollutants, and those limits must take into account the maximum amount of reduction that is technologically achievable. However, agency experts have been unable to analyze emissions. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) believes the EPA’s new mercury proposal would violate the law under the 1990 Clean Air Act. www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/031205.asp If you wish to contact the EPA with concerns about mercury and/or other toxins in our environment, please visit the EPA website at: www.epa.gov.
