Washington (Platts)--20Nov2008

Mercury emissions from most of the 50 oldest US coal-fired power plants
rose in 2007, the Environmental Integrity Project said Thursday in a report.

The environmental group said that while figures on total mercury
emissions in 2007 are not yet available, Environmental Protection Agency data
shows the 50 worst plants emitted 20 tons of the neurotoxin in 2007, the most
recent year for which information is available.

And while some of the dirtiest coal-fired plants did report reductions in
mercury emissions since 2006, the EIP report said emissions increased at the
majority of them.

"Even though mercury removal is achievable, EPA has backed away from
strict power plant mercury regulation," EIP said. "In 2005, instead of
requiring power plant mercury reductions, EPA opted for a weak cap-and-trade
scheme that would have allowed power plants to either reduce their own mercury
pollution or buy pollution credits from other plants."

A US appeals court in February struck down EPA's mercury rule after
finding it violated the Clean Air Act.

The EIP report said the 12 states with the most plants in the top-50 in
terms of mercury pollution are Texas, with seven, Pennsylvania, with five,
Alabama and Georgia, each with four, Ohio, Indiana, and North Dakota, each
with three, followed by Missouri, Kansas North Carolina, Wisconsin and
Arkansas, each with two.

In addition, the report said that of the top 10 power plant mercury
emitters, all but one reported an increase in 2007 from the prior year.

EIP said Southern Company's Miller plant, in Jefferson County, Alabama,
is ranked number one in the nation for 2007, reporting nearly a ton of mercury
air pollution, almost 14% above its 2006 emissions.