Summary
Coal-fueled power plants are the nation's largest contributor of airborne mercury, a toxin so potent that relatively small amounts can damage the nervous system, the heart, kidneys and liver in adults as well as cause serious brain-development damage in a fetus or young child. Removing this toxin, however, became more difficult as the smokestack emissions became mixed with politics in the Bush administration, which sought to delay and loosen standards for mercury.
Former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said recently that she was unaware during her tenure that crucial analyses of mercury removal were delayed by political appointees at the agency, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times. They were due last December, but career staff members were prevented from getting them done by political appointees, according to the story. Those analyses would, among other things, model the feasibility and cost of installing maximum achievable control technology (MACT) to meet standards for reducing emissions, something the industry, which is said to have helped write the agency's current proposal for mercury pollution control, did not want.See the full content of this document
Extract
Rising Mercury Standards
The current EPA administrator, Michael O. Leavitt, said his agency would conduct further analysis in preparation for adopting a final rule in December. This is encouraging...
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