Mercury is a developmental toxin that can affect babies developing in the womb and, at much higher doses, can lead to serious health effects for adults.  Read more about mercury here...

The Mercury Cycle: From Smokestacks to the Dinnertable.  Find out how toxic mercury from coal-burning power plants gets into our food supply.  Find out more.

From coal supply to exhaust stack, see the process for a coal-fired plant here...

The U.S. Geological Survey's Mercury in the Environment fact sheet includes information on human and wildlife risks, mercury sources, fish advisories and much more.  Find the fact sheet here...

According to Clear the Air, Iowa coal-fired power plants emitted 2,170 pounds of mercury into the air in 2002.  Read Clear the Air's fact sheet, Iowa's Dirty Power Plants, here...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) on May 18, 2005.  The CAMR provides for cap and trading.  States may choose to operate their programs using EPA’s trading scheme with easier opt-in provisions, allowance allocations and reporting requirements.  Should states choose alternative implementation rules, they would have to develop control plans, demonstration requirements and reporting requirements unfamiliar to most of states’ administrators.  Iowa chose to participate in the EPA trading scheme for two reasons.  First, the EPA trading strategy is easier and is less staff-intense.  Second, there are no funds attached to these rules for implementation.

EPA expects that most states will choose to reduce mercury emissions from electrical generating units (EGUs) using the cap and trade approach. States that adopt EPA's "model" cap and trade rules to implement CAMR are afforded ‘automatic approval’ of their SIP.  Although the EPA did allow states to develop their own mercury reduction programs, the EPA requirements were resource-intensive and the DNR doesn’t have the expertise to meet the requirements in the short time frame required by the EPA.  Read the Iowa Sierran article about CAMR here...

Pollution Trading Policy.  The Sierra Club opposes use of trading. In all cases, if a program is initiated, there must be full public notice, disclosure, participation, oversight, accountability, verification, and effective enforcement, with rights of appeal for affected citizens and administrative and judicial remedies.  Read the policy here...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is furthering the federally mandated CAMR.  Iowa must adopt the CAMR into its air quality rules by Fall 2006.   Read the proposed rule here...

DNR will hold two public hearings on its proposed mercury rule. 

• Tuesday, February 21, 2006, at 1 PM, at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids

• Wednesday, February 22, 2006, at 1 PM at the department’s Air Quality Bureau offices, 7900 Hickman, Urbandale

    Written comments will be accepted until February 27.  Send your comments to Christine Paulson, Department of Natural Resources, Air Quality Bureau, 7900 Hickman Road, Suite 1, Urbandale, Iowa 50322; fax (515) 242–5094; or by electronic mail to christine.paulson@dnr.state.ia.us.

Talking Points.  

• Right now, we have the technology to reduce mercury pollution by 90 percent or more according to EPA’s own estimates.[1] All we need is for the Bush Administration to enforce the laws on the books.

• Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has proposed a plan that would permit three times more mercury pollution than strict enforcement of Clean Air Act allows—for decades longer.

• The recent proposal also includes a "cap-and-trade" program that allows industry to buy and sell the right to pollute and may leave some communities at risk for more pollution than others.

• This is an important issue with long-term consequences. However, the Bush administration only held public hearings in three U.S. cities: Philadelphia, PA, Raleigh, NC and Chicago, IL.

• Coal-burning power plants are the single largest source of mercury pollution in the US[2] and are responsible for 33 percent of the total mercury emissions from all manmade sources nationwide. 

• Forty-five states and territories had fish advisories in 2002.[3] Fish advisories for mercury have increased 138 percent from 1993 to 2002.[4]

• The EPA recently estimated that one in six women of childbearing age have mercury levels in their blood high enough to put their baby at risk.[5] That means approximately 630,000 newborns are at risk each year.[6]

• At a meeting on December 10-11, 2003, the FDA and EPA, for the first time, combined their advice into a draft joint advisory that warns pregnant women, women who may become pregnant, and nursing mothers against eating certain types of mercury-laden fish and to limit their consumption of others.[7]

• Why is the Bush administration undermining our air pollution protections while at the same time warning women of childbearing age and children to limit their consumption of mercury-laden fish?
  
  
  [1] During an EPA presentation to Edison Electric, December 4, 2001, the EPA indicated that it was possible to reduce mercury emissions to approximately 5 tons (that's almost a 90% reduction) by 2008.
  
  [2] "EPA to Regulate Mercury and Other Air Toxics Emissions from Coal- and Oil-Fired Power Plants," US Environmental Protection Agency, December 14, 2000. Available at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/fact_sheets/fs_util.pdf
  
  [3] "The number of states that have issued mercury advisories has risen steadily from 27 in 1993 to 45 in 2002." See "Update: National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories," US EPA, Office of Water. EPA-823-F-03-003. (May 2003). Available at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advisories/factsheet.pdf
  
  [4] "Advisories for mercury increased 11% from 2001 to 2002 (1,933 to 2,140) and increased 138% from 1993 to 2002 (899 to 2,140)." See "Update: National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories," US EPA, Office of Water. EPA-823-F-03-003. (May 2003). Available at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advisories/factsheet.pdf
  
  [5] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Methylmercury: Epidemiology Update, Presentation by Kathryn Mahaffey, PhD at the National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, San Diego, CA (January 25-28, 2004).
  
  [6] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Methylmercury: Epidemiology Update, Presentation by Kathryn Mahaffey, PhD at the National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, San Diego, CA (January 25-28, 2004).
  
  [7] "Overview of the Draft FDA/EPA Methylmercury (MeHg) Consumer Advisory," presented at the Dec 10-11 Food Advisory Committee Meeting, December 10-11, 2003.

State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators (STAPPA) and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials (ALAPCO) released Regulating Mercury from Power Plants: A Model Rule for States and Localities (Model Rule) for coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs) is intended to provide state and local governments the tools needed to obtain reductions in mercury emissions required to meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Model Rule would protect public health using technologies that are available and rapidly entering the commercial market.  Read the model rule here...  Although aware of the STAPPA/ALAPCO rule, the DNR is not seriously taking it into consideration.

On November 14, 2005, the Institute of Clean Air Companies (ICAC), a nonprofit national association of companies that manufacture and supply stationary source air pollution control technology and monitoring systems, applauded the  STAPPA/ALAPCO release of a strong but flexible model rule to guide state and local control programs to substantially reduce mercury emissions at coal-fired power generators.  Read the ICAC news release here...

Iowa Church and Fishing Groups Join Enviros Saying Federal Mercury Rule Inadequate.  In a strongly-worded letter to Governor Tom Vilsack, faith, sporting and conservation groups called for stronger action on the largest, uncontrolled source of mercury – coal-fired power plants. Saying the federal mercury rule doesn’t adequately deal with the problem, groups want the Attorney General’s office to support the 14 states taking legal action to strengthen the rule.  Read more...  The governor has not responded.