|
|
||||||||||||
 |
| Thomas Redick with his infant granddaughter Charlea. Thomas hopes that when Charlea grows up and starts a family, she will not have to worry about mercury contamination. |
Thomas Redick has been fishing and hunting for as long as he can remember. When Thomas married and started a family he passed this tradition on to his 3 daughters, and had hoped to pass it on to his grandchildren. Thomas remembers taking his daughters with him fishing when they were younger, unfortunately due to the Bush Administration's lack of enforcement of the Clean Air Act, his granddaughters are unable to enjoy the sport of fishing in their hometown of Omaha, NE.
The Nebraska Department of Health issued fishing advisories on the Missouri river in Omaha, Plattsmouth and Rulo. The fish advisory was issued due to high levels of Dieldrin and polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs)(1). Today there are 28 waterways in Nebraska that are under fish consumption advisories, 9 of which are due to Mercury contamination. Omaha is the largest city in Nebraska and the most industrial. The primary toxins found in Nebraska's waterways are PCB's, Dieldrin, and Mercury.
Dieldrin and PCBs are both carcinogens and thus considered very hazardous if consumed. The distribution of plasticizers, wax extenders and other materials made from PCBs has been banned in the United States since 1982(2). The Clean Air Act, if enforced in conjunction with the use of current technology, has the ability to reduce the amount of mercury emissions from power plants and other facilities by 90% in 2008(3). However, the Bush Administration has introduced a plan that allows polluting industries to continue emitting mercury for 10 years longer than the current law allows(4). This means that Omaha's families would be subjected to more hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) for a longer period of time.
Thomas is very aware of the fish advisories and is disappointed by what is happening to Nebraska's waterways. Recently Thomas took two of his older granddaughters, Nicollette, 12, and Hayley, 8 to DeSoto Bend in Iowa for a fishing trip. "Since the toxic blue algae problem I have stopped fishing in Nebraska." In 2003 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint warning to all women of childbearing age, nursing mothers, and pregnant women against eating certain fish from mercury contaminated waters(5).
Methylmercury, the hazardous form of mercury, can cause severe brain damage particularly to infants and children. There is evidence that shows that methylmercury exposure can have adverse cardiovascular effects, resulting in elevated blood pressure and some incidences of heart attack(6). The EPA estimated that 1 in 6 American women of child bearing age already have unsafe levels of mercury in their bodies, leaving at least 630,000 newborns at risk each year(7).
There is a better way: we know how to lower mercury pollution and
protect our families. The technology to reduce mercury pollution
is available for use. The Bush administration needs to enforce the
laws requiring polluting corporations to utilize available technology
to reduce mercury emissions and start putting families first.
For more information:
Sierra Club Organizer, Cammy Watkins
(402) 551-9480
camellia.watkins@sierraclub.org
Nebraska Games and Parks Commission
www.ngpc.state.ne.us
- http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/fishing/guides/fishguide/FGadvisories.asp
- ibid
- EPA Presentation to Edison Electric Institute, (December 4, 2001).
- http://www.epa.gov/air/clearskies/state/ne.html, (July 2003).
- Overview of the Draft FDA/EPA Methylmercury Consumer Advisory, Food Advisory Committee Meeting. (December 10, 2003).
- http://www.epa.gov/mercury/information1.htm#four
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Methylmercury: Epidemiology Update, Presentation by Kathryn Mahaffey, PhD at the National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, San Diego, CA (January 25-28, 2004).
Photo courtesy Denise Redick.
Up to TopHOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club