WASHINGTON -- February 16 -- "The report released today by House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo and Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chairman Jim Gibbons is rife with misinformation regarding the dangers of toxic mercury. The report pulls the wool over the public's eyes by downplaying the health risks associated with mercury and failing to provide recommendations that will reduce power plant emissions as soon as possible.

"In saying there is no credible evidence linking power plant pollution to mercury in fish, the report minimizes the risks of toxic mercury to pregnant women and their unborn children. The fact is, one in every six U.S. women of childbearing age has mercury levels in her blood high enough to put her baby at risk. The FDA and EPA have both issued warnings to pregnant women to limit the amount of fish they eat.

"Pombo and Gibbons report that mercury emissions in the U.S. have decreased since 1990. Medical and municipal waste incinerators, by installing modern technology, have indeed contributed to decreased mercury emissions in the last 15 years. But coal-fired power plants lack similar regulations and continue to be the largest unregulated source of mercury pollution in the U.S. In fact, in 1997, the EPA itself submitted a study to Congress estimating that 66 percent of the mercury deposited in the U.S. comes from domestic sources, and roughly half of that comes from coal-fired power plants.

"The Bush administration wants to let polluters off the hook and change laws that help protect public health from mercury. There is a better way. Strict enforcement of the Clean Air Act would put us on the road to cutting mercury pollution 90 percent by 2008."

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