Mercury plan is breath of fresh air
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| Thu, 09-21-2006 - 4:14pm |
Now THIS is exciting!!! :)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/letters/cst-edt-vox20a.html
Mercury plan is breath of fresh air
September 20, 2006
Every hour of every day, coal plants owned by three major energy companies -- Ameren, Dynegy and Midwest Generation -- release mercury into our air, harming our children's health and polluting the environment.
Gov. Blagojevich's mercury pollution reduction plan, now before the Illinois Pollution Control Board, requires coal plant owners to install modern pollution control equipment designed to reduce pollution by 90 percent by 2009. This equipment is affordable and readily available. Recently, Ameren and Dynegy, which own the coal plants in central and southern Illinois, have agreed to support and comply with the governor's mercury plan while reducing other air pollution as well.
Midwest Generation, which owns the coal plants in northern Illinois, continues to oppose reasonable mercury regulations. Midwest Generation keeps arguing that the Illinois mercury pollution-reduction plan is too costly and not technologically feasible. However, Ameren and Dynegy, companies that operate coal plants just like Midwest Generation, have committed to install pollution reduction technologies designed to achieve 90 percent mercury pollution reductions by 2009. Midwest Generation can clearly do the same. No more excuses.
Illinois ranks fourth nationally for severe concentrations of mercury pollution, or "hot spots." Midwest Generation's coal plants in Chicago, Joliet, Waukegan and elsewhere in northern Illinois spew mercury pollution that has led the Illinois director of public health to declare "fish advisories" for Lake Michigan and every lake and river in Illinois. All Illinois citizens -- especially pregnant women and women of childbearing age -- are warned to severely limit the fish they eat from Illinois waterways.
The harmful effects of mercury pollution on children's health is well understood. Methylmercury is a neurotoxin. It can pass through a pregnant woman's placenta and harm fetal brain development. Exposure in the early stages of development through contaminated fish can cause brain damage, including reduced cognitive abilities and other developmental problems. Research suggests that these effects are permanent.
Nationally, 6 percent to 10 percent of women of childbearing age may have mercury levels high enough to put a fetus at an increased risk for developmental problems from mercury poisoning, which can burden a child throughout life. That translates to 230,000 to 410,000 babies born at-risk annually. The Illinois mercury pollution- reduction plan will lower the mercury exposure for more than 100,000 women of childbearing age in Illinois whose blood mercury levels may already exceed the federal recommended limit.
Robyn Gabel, executive director, Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition;
Howard Learner, executive director, Environmental Law and Policy Center;
Ed Pont, M.D., president, Illinois chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics;
Jerry Stermer, president, Voices for Illinois Children

Hmmm,
It would have been nice to see statistics regarding rank in the autism/neurological disorders nationally to see if the "hot spots" rank higher.
Besides mercury, what is the deal with our government??? Global warming is pretty much accepted as actually happening, so why aren't all these safety measures already in place??? Especially given that they are available and affordable...
Oh, well, another post, another forum, I suppose.
Kelly