PHILADELPHIA—Pennsylvania issued 77
statewide advisories due to unsafe mercury levels in 2003, according to "Fishing
for Trouble," a new Clear the Air report released today by PennEnvironment.
Pennsylvania issued warnings against eating fish due to mercury contamination
covering all of its lakes and streams. This covers 161,445 acres of its lakes,
and 53,962 miles of rivers.
"PennEnvironment's analysis finds that
mercury contamination is a danger at many of Pennsylvania's favorite fishing
spots," said Ariel Hegedus, clean water associate with PennEnvironment.
"Mercury contaminates our environment, puts our public health at risk,
and leaves Pennsylvanians fishing for trouble."
State health departments issue fish consumption
advisories to warn people to limit or avoid consumption of contaminated fish.
Mercury is a dangerous toxic metal, especially for children.
Exposure to mercury can cause attention
and language deficits, impaired memory, and impaired visual and motor function
in children. Scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimate
that one in six women of childbearing age in the U.S. has levels of mercury
in her blood high enough to put 630,000 of the four million babies born each
year at risk of health problems due to mercury exposure.
"Pennsylvanians should be able to eat
fish without worrying that it is contaminated with mercury. Unfortunately, current
pollution levels make that impossible," said Arthur Stamoulis, policy analyst
for Clean Air Council, a statewide environmental group. "The ultimate solution
to mercury contamination is stopping pollution from occurring in the first place."
Mercury contamination is also a threat to
recreational fishing and our economy. In 2001, Pennsylvania's recreational anglers
spent $580,351,000 on fishing.
Power plants are the nation's single largest
source of mercury pollution, contributing 41 percent of U.S. mercury emissions.
Pennsylvania has the third worst power plant mercury emissions in the country,
and Reliant Energy's Keystone power plant in Shelocta, Pennsylvania, is the
nation's fourth highest emitting power plant.
"Fishing
for Trouble" analyzes 2003 state data on fish consumption advisories
due to mercury contamination. Key findings of the report include:
- Nationwide, there were advisories issued
covering more than 13.1 million acres of lakes and 767,000 miles of river. Compared
to 2002, these were increases of 67% for rivers and six percent for lakes.
- Neighboring states of Ohio, Connecticut,
and Maryland also issued statewide advisories against eating fish due to mercury
contamination.
PennEnvironment's report comes as the Bush
administration prepares to finalize a highly controversial proposal that would
let power plants emit six to seven times more mercury over the next decade than
the Clean Air Act allows and delay meaningful reductions until 2018, at the
earliest. Moreover, the plan allows facilities to buy mercury pollution credits
from facilities located far away instead of reducing their own emissions, thus
increasing the risk of creating and exacerbating toxic hotspots.
Other industrial sources have reduced their
mercury emissions by more than 90 percent within a few short years, but power
plants continue to emit unlimited amounts of mercury into the air. The technology
is available to reduce power plant mercury emissions by at least 90 percent
by 2008, as the law requires.
PennEnvironment called on the Bush administration
to abandon its mercury-trading proposal and faithfully implement the Clean Air
Act by finalizing a rule that reduces mercury emissions from power plants by
at least 90 percent from existing levels by 2008.
"The Bush administration's mercury
plan is too little, too late. They should stop letting polluters off the hook,
and substantially strengthen their plan to reduce mercury emissions from power
plants," said Hegedus.
PennEnvironment is a statewide environmental
advocacy organization with over 13,000 citizen members.
