Jul 27 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - David DeKok The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa.

Marlene McPherson of Ickesburg, Perry County, took time Wednesday to support tougher rules to limit mercury emissions from power plants.

"If we're poisoning something that way, if we can stop, we need to do that," McPherson said. "We need to stop poisoning our citizens and animals and wildlife."

She was one of about 20 people to give opinions to the state Department of Environmental Protection's Environmental Quality Board during a hearing in Harrisburg. All but two of them supported higher standards, and many of them, like McPherson, were average residents.

The 36 coal-burning power plants in Pennsylvania emit the second-most mercury in the nation, behind Texas, several people testified.

Doug Biden, president of the Electric Power Generation Association, was one of two witnesses who opposed tougher rules. The other opponent was Andrew Wolfe, president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1600, which represents workers at PPL power plants.

"Our industry has been falsely accused by DEP of not wanting to reduce our mercury emissions," Biden said. "We support significant reductions. The debate is not whether to reduce mercury emissions, but how."

Biden laid out a scenario of closed power plants, electric blackouts, no air conditioning on hot days and many jobs lost to other states if industry does not get the right to trade mercury-emission credits.

Regulations proposed by DEP would ban the trading of emission credits.

Under federal regulations favored by the utility and mining industries, power-plant owners who remove more mercury from emissions than required by law could sell credits to other plant owners who fall short of requirements.

The Rendell administration opposes trading credits because of evidence that it would lead to toxic mercury "hot spots" around power plants. A study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the area around Steubenville, Ohio, lends support to those concerns.

Kim Anderson, a mother of three from Dillsburg, expressed support for stronger regulations.

"I'm tired of industry telling us a clean environment is too expensive," she said. "Trading for the right to contaminate is unacceptable."

The Rendell administration shouldn't have much trouble getting the regulations through the board. Of its 20 members, 11 are heads of state Cabinet departments or agencies. Five members are residents elected by the board's Citizens Advisory Council. Four members are legislators, the majority and minority chairmen of the Senate and House environmental committees.

Once approved by the board, the regulations go to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission for consideration. The state regulations must be in place by November to meet a federal deadline.