Nine States Sue Government Over Mercury Rules
(Trenton, NJ, Health-AP, 3/30/05)

Mercury from smokestacks can contaminate waterways, taint fish and ultimately cause devastating nerve damage to humans. Now nine states have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of failing to satisfy Clear Air Act requirements because their new standards do not adequately protect children and pregnant women from the mercury emissions of power plants. The new EPA-regulations supposedly will cut mercury emissions from coal-burning plants by half within 15 years; however, the plan is flawed because it allows polluters to swap "pollution credits" with cleaner facilities. In fact, polluters could even legally increase their mercury emissions as long as they purchased enough credits from plants that exceed the standards. Furthermore, this program is not scheduled to start until 2010 and, even then, power plants will not be required to use the strictest emissions control technology available.