EPA Proposes New Mercury Air Pollution Rules

Standards Proposed by Environmental Protection Agency Will Cut Mercury Released by Power Plants

By Brenda Goodman
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

March 16, 2011 -- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed the first national standards for mercury and other toxins emitted by power plants, which are some of the biggest air polluters in the nation.

A broad coalition of environmental groups, health agencies, and doctors hailed the new standards, which were issued under court order more than 20 years after they were mandated by congress.

“EPA is finally cleaning up the biggest source of toxic air pollution in America,” says John Walke, a senior attorney and director of the Clean Air for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C.

The EPA estimates that the new standards will save up to 17,000 lives each year by reducing exposure to heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, chromium, and nickel; acid gases like sulfur dioxide; and particulate matter.

(More here.)