Pa. Ranks High Again in Power Plant Pollution
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
21 July 2011
By David Templeton
Another pollution report, this one focused on health impacts of toxic
air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants, says Pennsylvania
has some of the worst toxic air pollution in the nation, second only to
Ohio upwind.
But the continuing string of science detailing air pollution's effect
on human health hasn't convinced House Republicans, who continue
working to delay, and even block, the so-called Mercury Rule that the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says will reduce toxic power plant
emissions and save 17,000 lives a year.
On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Physicians for
Social Responsibility tried to counter Republican efforts by releasing
their report, "Toxic Power: How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air And
States," listing the top 20 states with the worst toxic air. Ohio and
Pennsylvania top the list, followed by Florida. Nearby West Virginia
and Maryland also made the top 10.
The Mercury Rule calls for a reduction in mercury and other toxic
substances, including other heavy metals and acidic gases.
The NRDC reviewed levels of 76 pollutants from the EPA's Toxics Release
Inventory -- including mercury, lead, arsenic, other heavy metals and
hydrochloric acid -- that contribute to or worsen asthma and
respiratory ailments and also can cause developmental disorders,
neurological damage, birth defects, cancer and premature mortality.
Nearly half of the toxic pollution from industrial sources in the
United States come from coal- and oil-fired power plants, the NRDC
report says, with power plants being the single largest industrial
source of toxic air in 28 states and the District of Columbia.
"Based on the EPA modeling of the health benefits of reducing toxic
pollution from power plants, it is clear that a lot of lives are at
stake," said Peter Altman, the defense council's climate campaign
director. "The EPA is in the midst of updating clean-air safeguards,
and some members of Congress are working to stop that, including
members of the Pennsylvania delegation, who voted to slow down the
national cleanup of toxic pollution and other pollutions."
On July 12, the House Energy & Commerce Committee endorsed an
amendment to delay new air quality standards on claims the new rules
"have the potential to impose tens of billions in compliance costs,
eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, drive up the price of energy,
and reduce U.S. competitiveness in an increasingly global economy."
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair -- whom the NRDC named in a
news release as one of the House Republicans creating a "full-scale
assault on efforts to protect kids and public health from dangerous air
pollution" -- said he and his colleagues also want cleaner air, water
and land but that they question whether enough analysis has been done
to prove the benefits EPA said would occur once the rules are adopted.
"Keeping the status quo is not practical," he said of current air
quality. "But shutting down power plants is not practical, either.
Cleaning them up? I want to see that."
But he said current rules make it impractical from a business
perspective for power plants to abide by EPA rules.For example, power
plants would rather add pollution controls gradually than spend
hundreds of millions of dollars to put them in place at one time.
Mr. Murphy also said he and other Republicans want better data before
implementing the stricter rules that he said should go through Congress
before they take effect.
"We want to move toward jobs, health, clean air and clean water," Mr.
Murphy said. "It's just a matter of how we get there."
But Mr. Altman, of the resources defense council, said the health
impact is clear: The Mercury Rule is "one of the most important
standards to reduce toxic pollution from power plants that would have
the greatest benefit in saving lives and protecting children from
dangerous pollution."
The NRDC "will be delivering the report to congressional offices"
throughout the day today, he said.
The Senate also is considering amendments to block clean-air rules,
raising questions of Sen. Bob Casey's stance on the issue.
"There are common sense ways to create jobs and grow our manufacturing
base in southwestern Pennsylvania without sacrificing the safety of our
children and families," the Pennsylvania Democrat stated. "While job
creation is a top priority, I am confident that we can grow our economy
while continuing to take responsible steps to protect our health."
David Templeton: dtempleton@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1578.