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10 states sue epa over clean air act violations { April 11 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--mercury-epa0411apr11,0,5968503.story?coll=ny-region-apconnecticuthttp://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--mercury-epa0411apr11,0,5968503.story?coll=ny-region-apconnecticut
Wisconsin joins 9 states in mercury reduction lawsuit
By JULIET WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer
April 11, 2005, 8:33 PM EDT
MILWAUKEE -- Wisconsin joined Connecticut and eight other states Monday in suing the federal government over new mercury pollution rules the governor says are so weak they don't meet the standards of the Clean Air Act.
In announcing his approval of the lawsuit, Gov. Jim Doyle said the Bush administration has cowed to big business with new guidelines for power plant emissions that could allow 19 states to increase mercury emissions in the next five years by setting caps that are higher than current levels.
Wisconsin has some of the toughest mercury laws in the country, requiring all power plants to cut emissions by 40 percent by 2010 and by 75 percent by 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency rules aim to cut mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants by nearly half within 15 years.
Regulators in Wisconsin recently approved air permits for two new power plants that would cut mercury emissions by 80 percent by the time they start operating, Doyle said.
"We're showing that we can have high environmental standards while using progressive, economically viable technology," Doyle said at a news conference along the shore of Lake Michigan.
He was flanked by several environmentalists holding signs, including one that said "No more mercury in my lake."
Mercury settles in waterways and accumulates in fish. In people who eat those fish, the toxic metal can cause neurological and developmental problems, particularly in fetuses and children.
The governor said mercury pollution seriously threatens Wisconsin's sport fishing industry, which employs 30,000 people, as well as women of childbearing age, pregnant women and young children.
An estimated 40 percent of mercury emissions come from power plants, but those emissions have not been regulated as a pollutant, although the EPA has regulated mercury in water and from municipal waste and medical waste incinerators.
Doyle agreed a federal standard is needed, saying that even with tough standards here, emissions from neighboring states can still harm interior waterways.
"We have a strong standard in Wisconsin, but an incredibly weak proposed national standard that in fact would have us step backward," Doyle said.
In Wisconsin, 90 percent of the lakes and streams have high levels of the toxin and every lake and stream in the state is under a fish consumption advisory. Still, people eat more fish than the national average.
A study in which hair samples from 2,000 volunteers were examined found many residents had higher levels of mercury than are considered safe, said Dr. Henry Anderson, chief medical officer for environmental and occupational health at the state Department of Health and Family Services.
"One in five volunteers have levels that exceeded the risk level," of 1 part per billion, Anderson said Monday. Randomly collected samples are still being analyzed, he said.
Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager filed Wisconsin's lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, but Doyle's approval was needed before the suit could proceed.
Jennifer Giegerich, state director of the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, called the EPA's rule absurd, because the agency's own data show mercury's harmful effects.
"A key EPA fish study released last summer found that 100 percent of the fish samples collected in Wisconsin contained mercury levels that exceeded EPA's 'safe' limit for women of average weight who eat fish twice a week," she said.
She said the EPA got more comments on the proposed mercury rule than on any other in agency history.
The EPA issued a brief statement saying it "is confident in the legal foundation of the rule-making and plans to vigorously defend the rule."
The Sierra Club applauded Wisconsin for being the first Midwest state to sue.
"We hope Governor Doyle takes this opportunity to help call on other Great Lakes and Midwest states to join Wisconsin," said Eric Uram, the club's regional representative.
Doyle is co-chairman of the Council of Great Lakes Governors.
The New Jersey attorney general's office is taking the lead on the lawsuit. The suit criticizes the EPA for exempting power plants from having to install the strictest emissions control technology available. That technology would cut mercury pollution by 90 percent, according to the New Jersey attorney general's office.
The eight other states involved in the suit are California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.
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On the Net:
Governor Doyle: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/
Department of Justice: http://www.doj.state.wi.us/
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
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