Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management: Mercury Emissions from Coal Plants: The Case for Regulatory Action
Coal plants emit a number of hazardous and toxic pollutants, but among the most troubling is mercury, since it is so toxic, for such a long period of time, at such tiny levels.
Recent data from the USGS shows that virtually all surface waters in the United States are contaminated with mercury, and analysis of the specific mercury compounds links most of that contamination to coal plant emissions.
This report is specific to the Northeastern United States, but provides a good overview of the impacts related to mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. It also suggests the kind of problems and costs Kansas can expect in the future, if we bring additional coal-fired power plants online.
September 8th, 2010 at 7:34 am
Hi… For some reason strange things are hapenning with your site layout. The edges of the text are running into each other. Everything was working the other day. I don’t know if it’s something on my computer or if you’ve made a change… Just thought you might want to look at it. Thanks! Herbert Mesler