Mercury Levels Rising In Southern Wisconsin Walleye
Walleye in southern Wisconsin are carrying more toxic mercury these days, the DNR says.
So the agency has issued advisories about walleye and other contaminated fish, and urge limits and even total advoidance of their ingestion in some cases.
Coal-fired power plants are a suspected source of airborne mercury that lands in waterways and is absorbed by fish.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MERCURY FREE PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPS DRAFT OF GROUNDBREAKING LEGISLATION TO KEEP AIR AND WATER CLEAN
Communities and Individuals Form Coalition Focused on Mercury Reduction within
Broad Environmental Policy
September 9, 2009—The Mercury Free Partnership has developed a draft of legislation which would reduce 90% of harmful mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, the largest emitter of mercury in the United States. This draft, called the Mercury Reduction Act of 2009, would target coal-fired plants which emit more than 100,000 pounds of mercury into the air each year. In fact, the EPA estimates that about 250 pounds of mercury are currently pumped out of U.S. coal-fired plants into the atmosphere every single day, contaminating our nation’s air and water supplies. Contamination not only poses a multitude of health risks to extremely vulnerable citizens, but it also significantly affects the economic interests of related industries. This is an important initiative because so much attention has been focused on global climate change; what has to be realized is that immediate mercury reduction alone would significantly enhance environmental and health benefits in our world. The purpose of this draft is to initiate dialogue with all concerned stakeholders in order to develop a finalized piece of legislation.
The Mercury Free Partnership believes that the new administration will be taking the necessary steps to curb various industrial emissions and ensure that citizens are protected from many harmful chemicals produced by the market. To make certain that mercury emissions are not swept under the rug in this crucial time period, the Mercury Free Partnership will focus on engaging Congress to work on delivering sensible mercury reduction legislation in the coming session. This can be done with new green technologies that will save lives, create jobs and build momentum for comprehensive environmental change.
For more information on this issue, please visit www.mercuryfreepartnership.org.
The Mercury Free Partnership is a group of organizations, non-profits, and green businesses that are dedicated to enacting sensible and comprehensive Mercury reduction legislation in the 2009 U.S. Congressional session. Working collectively with all stakeholders, the utility industry, medical and advocacy groups and clean coal industries we believe we can achieve our goal of removing significant amounts of Mercury from the environment while maintaining essential energy and financial areas of our economy.
Contact: Jason Sabo, Mercury Free Partnership, 877-603-2337 or info@mercuryfreepartnership.org
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