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.