Georgia Considers Strict Mercury Rule

Jun 01 - Augusta Chronicle, The

Georgia is considering one of the nation's toughest mercury guidelines in an effort to limit emissions of the toxic pollutant.

The plan from the state Environmental Protection Division could reduce mercury levels by at least 80 percent by 2010.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates about 20,000 Georgians are born each year with high mercury levels, which studies have linked to developmental delays, blindness and, in extreme cases, death.

"With some of the effects, 'profound' is an understatement," said John Risher, a scientist with the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. "This is a public health issue."

The state proposal, which activists and toxic experts debated Thursday, is targeted at coal-fired power plants. The plants emit thousands of pounds of mercury each year as a byproduct of burning fossil fuels for energy, and state environmentalists say that number continues to rise.

Eventually, the mercury can settle into oceans and waterways where it is consumed by fish, which in turn can contaminate the humans eating them.

State environmental officials have responded by blanketing more than 70 of Georgia's 128 rivers and about 41,000 acres of Georgia's lakes with mercury warnings.

Georgia Power Co., the state's dominant electric provider, argues it is already taking measures to rein in mercury pollution.

The company plans to spend $2 billion over the next five years on environmental controls and will install pollution-reducing scrubbers on 10 units in three plants, said Lolita Browning Jackson, Georgia Power's spokeswoman.

She said the utility favors the federal "cap and trade" mercury policy, which allows companies to buy and sell permission to emit certain levels of mercury.

Activists warned Georgia regulators the longer they wait, the greater the potential for harm.

"We need these reductions now," said Beth Allgood, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.