The only funny part about the below report, is that although BushCo
has lowered emission standards, they claim they are doing more than
previous administrations. There thinking? Well, they've got the F.D.A.
working on guidelines to show the amount and frequency children can
eat the tainted fish!!!!

Report warns of mercury in fish
Group wants cleaner coal-fired plants to save rivers, lakes

Michael Janofsky, New York Times
Wednesday, August 4, 2004



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Washington -- More than half the fish in the nation's lakes and
reservoirs have levels of mercury that exceed government standards for
women of child-bearing age and children, according to an environmental
coalition's analysis of a survey by the Environmental Protection
Agency.

A breakdown of the survey findings from the first two years of a four-
year study was the basis of the report Tuesday by Clear the Air, a
coalition that is pressing the agency to set more stringent mercury
emission standards for coal-fired power plants than those the Bush
administration has proposed. While the new standards, the first ever
for power plants, are scheduled to be confirmed next March, the final
survey results are not expected until 2006.

"The rule doesn't come close to what it needs to do to solve problems
of mercury in our rivers and lakes," said Angela Ledford, director of
Clear the Air.

The EPA challenged the accuracy of the report and argued that the Bush
administration was doing more than any previous administration to
address the health impact of mercury emissions.

"We agree that mercury is a serious public health issue," Cynthia
Bergman, a spokeswoman for the EPA, said in a written statement.
"That's why we're working with the Food and Drug Administration to
provide consumers with clear guidance about the benefits and risks of
fish consumption."

Industry groups were quick to side with the administration in
attacking the environmentalists' report. The National Association of
Manufacturers said it failed to mention that coal-fired power plants
accounted for less than 1 percent of annual mercury emissions
worldwide and that meeting the environmentalists' demand of 90 percent
reduction by 2008 would "cause massive disruptions" in domestic power
generation, driving up utility bills.

Emily Figdor, the policy analyst at the U.S. Public Interest Research
Group who wrote the environmentalists' report, did not dispute the
assertion that power plants produce a small amount of global
emissions. But in the United States, she said, they account for 41
percent of all mercury emissions, more than 90,000 pounds a year, and
up to 80 percent of the mercury deposits in some parts of the country,
including the Northeast and the Great Lakes region.

The kind of mercury scientists have found in fish is a toxin that can
harm human health, particularly in women of child-bearing age and
young children.

The EPA survey, a study of 268 chemicals taken from 2,547 fish in 500
lakes and reservoirs around the country, is an effort to examine the
health impacts of mercury emission with greater specificity. The
interim results had been made public by the agency, but the
environmental groups analyzed them to provide preliminary data on
levels of contamination, which states are experiencing the highest
emission levels and what companies are responsible.

The report found that 55 percent of fish samples were contaminated
with mercury levels above a safe limit for women of average weight who
eat fish twice a week, and 76 percent of samples exceeded a safe limit
for children of average weight under age 3 who eat fish twice a week.

"basskisser" wrote in message
om...

The EPA challenged the accuracy of the report and argued that the Bush
administration was doing more than any previous administration to
address the health impact of mercury emissions.

Right. By giving polluters a total pass.


"We agree that mercury is a serious public health issue," Cynthia
Bergman, a spokeswoman for the EPA, said in a written statement.
"That's why we're working with the Food and Drug Administration to
provide consumers with clear guidance about the benefits and risks of
fish consumption."

Clear guidance: Dicking around with the numbers so they don't seem so bad.