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 Mercury: Bush Administration Makes Fish Harder to Swallow Policies Put Florida's Communities at Greater Risk of Mercury Poisoning
While Florida's waters are much cleaner than they were when the Clean Water Act was passed three decades ago, the majority of our waters are still polluted with mercury originating from coal-fired power plants-the toxic element reaches Florida's waters after rain washes it out of the air. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has proposed a plan that would permit three times more mercury pollution than the current Clean Air Act allows-and for decades longer.3 Currently, power plants in the United States emit 96,000 pounds of mercury each year.4 One of the nation's largest emitters of mercury, the Crystal River power plant, is located a mere 15 miles from the Chassahowitzka River. The Tampa Bay area, another hot spot for mercury pollution, is home to six power plants,5 some of which are among the worst in the nation for mercury emissions. The George W. Bush administration's plan to permit more mercury emissions and delay enforcement of clean air laws will leave Florida's communities at risk from mercury pollution for years to come. There is a better way. Strong enforcement of the Clean Air Act could reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent of current levels by 2008.6 "It has been known since the 1950s that releases of mercury from human activities can cause buildup in fish and other wildlife, and threaten human health," says Cecilia Height, a registered nurse who specializes in neurology and hospice care. Cecilia regularly warns her patients of the dangers of mercury, and has personally witnessed the debilitating health consequences of mercury poisoning. "People who consume contaminated fish can be exposed to unnaturally high amounts of mercury and may face a variety of health problems," she warns. Mercury poisoning can cause birth defects, learning disabilities in children, and central nervous system damage in adults. Young babies, children, pregnant women, women of child-bearing age, and populations that consume large quantities of fish are at the greatest risk from mercury. The EPA recently estimated that as many as one in six women already have unsafe levels of mercury in her body, leaving approximately 630,000 newborns at risk each year.7 Cecilia warns that mercury doesn't only affect the young. "My father spent the final three years of his life suffering from the crippling effects of peripheral neuropathy, brought on by mercury poisoning," she says. "Multiple tests revealed that the mercury level in his blood was 600 times higher than safe levels." At the recommendation of his doctors, Paul Bryant-Cecilia's father-ate fish several times a week. "While he was not a fisherman himself, he liked to take advantage of the local seafood," she recalls. "At restaurants he would order the daily catch, and at supermarkets would look for the freshest fish possible." However, in Florida many locally-caught fish, such as largemouth bass and various types of grouper, are unsafe to consume because more than 2 million acres of lakes, 50,000 miles of rivers, and the entire coastline have been posted with warnings of mercury contamination.8 Action is needed now to reduce mercury levels in Florida's waters. The Clean Air Act requires quick reductions from all power plants, and our public officials must strictly enforce this mandate. If Floridians, young and old, are to be able to consume fish from local streams, mandatory reductions in mercury must occur. For more information contact: Find out more:
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