Contacts: Michelle Rosier or Matt Little, Sierra Club Clean Air Campaign, 612-659-9124
Minnesotans Confront Bush Administration's Weak Mercury Standard
A Dozen Minnesotans Travel to Chicago to Testify Before the U.S. EPA on Mercury Rule for Coal Plants
Minneapolis - On Wednesday, February 25, a dozen Minnesotans will join scores of others from the Great Lakes Region converging on Chicago to testify in front of EPA about the dangers of mercury pollution. Minnesotans from all walks of life plan to tell EPA that the new federal rule regulating mercury at power plants is too weak to protect the health of our lakes and our families.
Recent data from EPA shows the number of children born each year at risk of learning and developmental disorders due to mercury contamination in the womb has doubled. Mercury, which threatens 630,000 babies born each year, enters the body through the consumption of mercury-contaminated fish. Because nearly all Minnesota lakes tested are contaminated with mercury, the Minnesota Department of Health has issued a statewide advisory limiting the consumption of certain species and sizes of fish due to mercury.
Even in the face of this new health data, the Bush Administration's EPA introduced a federal rule that will allow 7 times more mercury to be released from coal plants than the Clean Air Act currently allows. In 2001, EPA's own scientists said that the Clean Air Act would require 90 percent mercury reductions by 2008, based on existing mercury control technologies. However, EPA instead decided not to require any mercury controls at power plants until 2018 - a decade longer than the Clean Air Act requires.
The Minnesota group will testify before the EPA on Thursday, February 26th beginning at 8:20am at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605. We depart from the Sierra Club office (2327 E. Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis) on Wednesday, February 25th between 10:00-10:30am.
Attached is a quote sheet. Please contact us if you would like to talk to any of the individuals traveling to Chicago or you want to join the group to cover their journey and the EPA's only Midwest hearing on the mercury rule.
Below is the list of Minnesotans going to Chicago, who each have a unique story to tell about how mercury affects their lives:
Rich Femling - "As a Roseville small business owner that manufactures fly fishing products, I am concerned that EPA's rule is weaker than achievable mercury reductions based on current technologies and puts my business and favorite past-time at risk."
Lea Foushee - "I have researched the mercury contamination of fish and the health threats for Indigenous Peoples and other who rely on fish for over 25 years. The current mercury rule proposal is a continuation of existing environmental racism policy and genocide against Indigenous Peoples."
Boise Jones - "Mercury pollution is an environmental justice issue. I watch people fishing large fish out of the Mississippi River to feed their families, and believe EPA has to act and require utilities to apply current mercury pollution controls which can achieve 90% reductions by 2008."
Julie Risser - "As an Edina mother of two, I am concerned that the Bush Administration's air and energy policies are doing more harm than good, and risk the environment and quality of life our children deserve."
Bob Shimek - "I experienced mercury poisoning firsthand after feasting on a seasons catch of Minnesota fish, and believe the EPA's proposal unnecessarily puts people at risk. I'm making the trip from Bemidji to Chicago to make sure EPA understands what mercury does to people"
Blayne Graves - "As a University of Minnesota Senior, majoring in natural resources and environmental studies, I am concerned that EPA's mercury rule is another example of how the Bush Administration has failed to address current environmental issues affecting public health."
Christopher Childs - "I am outraged that over 75% of Minnesota's energy comes from old, coal-fired power plants, many of which do not have mercury pollution controls. EPA must set a mercury rule that challenges utilities instead of requiring reductions that would most likely be met without a rule."
Kris Kowal - "I am a stay at home mom who is frustrated by what is happening to Minnesota's lakes and fish in terms of mercury pollution, and feel the Bush Administration should go further to protect public health. I am traveling from Greenfield to Chicago to make sure EPA knows how important this is."
In addition, Minnesota representatives from the Sierra Club, Mercury Free Minnesota, Izaak Walton League, Clean Water Action Alliance, and the Institute on Agricultural Trade Policy plan to testify. To speak to anyone making the trip, please call Michelle Rosier or Matt Little at 612-659-9124.