Mercury -- Mukasey Comes To Its Defense

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

Attorney General Michael Mukasey's Justice Department is battling in court to allow more mercury to be released into our air. Our tax dollars at work.

In February, a three-judge appeals court panel ruled against a Bush administration EPA regulation that would allow power plants to trade mercury pollution credits. It's similar to the "cap and trade" idea that is being promoted as a means of reducing greenhouse gases. The Justice Department Monday asked the full appeals court in D.C. to review and reverse that ruling.

The states' lawsuit maintained that the EPA plan, allowing power plants to purchase emissions credits instead of making pollution reductions, creates mercury "hot spots" near some plants. Instead the states want all plants to be required to install the best available pollution controls, which could lead to mercury emission reductions of 90 percent or more.

Ruling on Mercury Emissions Is Appealed (AP)

Why should we care? Here it is, in a nutshell:

When inhaled regularly, mercury has been shown to cause damage to the brain, spinal cord, eyes and kidneys, particularly in young children and a developing fetus. Airborne deposits also can collect in waterways, where they enter the food chain and can concentrate at unhealthy levels in fish.

Environmental regulators take new look at Davenport cement plant's mercury emissions (MercuryNews.com)

More backgound on the court proceedings:

Bush administration asks federal appeals court to rehear mercury emissions case
Andrew Gilmore at 6:24 PM ET

[JURIST] The Bush administration has filed an appeal of a ruling [PDF text] by a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit invalidating new less-stringent mercury emissions rules issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website]. In February, the panel ruled [JURIST report] that the "cap-and-trade" policy, to be implemented in 2010 by the EPA to regulate electrical power plant mercury emissions, is effectively invalid. The policy would permit power plants whose mercury emissions exceed the regulatory cap to buy "credits" from other power plants whose emissions fall below the cap. The ruling also struck down the EPA's decision to remove coal- and oil-fueled power plants from the list of utilities subject to the strictest emissions controls. In a Monday filing, the Bush administration asked for an en banc review by the full US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website]. AP has more.

The original lawsuit [JURIST report] was brought by a coalition of 16 states that argued that the mercury pollution rules would endanger children living near power plants that buy credits to pollute over the EPA limit. The EPA argued that its Clean Air Mercury Rule [EPA backgrounder; JURIST report] would result in a more than 70 percent reduction in mercury emissions from utilities.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase...

Environmentalists also are seeking more stringent regulation of mercury emissions from cement plants, as they represent a double whammy of pollution: "Mercury comes from raw materials used to make cement — such as limestone, clay, sand and iron ore — and from fuels such as coal that fire the kilns where the ingredients are baked" (EPA Reconsidering Mercury Emission Rules, AP).

The mercury hazard is more than an air pollution issue. When plants release mercury into the air, that in turn leads to pollution of water and fish. The use of mercury in the extraction of gold also poses high risks to miners and pollutes waterways; and the mercury used in compact fluorescent light bulbs is another concern. Broken cfl bulbs may put consumers at risk in their own homes. Careless disposal of mercury, whether it's in thermostat switches, cfl bulbs, or other common sources, poses toxic risks as well at landfills.

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