Advocate Max Muller (right) shakes hands with Gov. Rod Blagojevich at the signing ceremony for a bill to prevent mercury pollution by properly recycling mercury-containing automobile switches.
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The pending Environment Illinois-backed rule to reduce coal-fired power plant mercury emissions has generated more public input than Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) staff can remember receiving—and the comments are near-unanimous in their support.
Environment Illinois can thank its members for most of this support. On May 8, we delivered 5,900 postcards and letters from our supporters to the board, which deliberated the rule over the summer, as supportive public comments continued to trickle in.
The rule was proposed in response to a federal mercury rule that has been so widely recognized as insufficient that 18 states are pursuing more stringent mercury reductions on their own.
After the IPCB passes the rule, in order to become law, it must also pass a 12-member legislative committee, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. The committee’s vote could happen as soon as Oct. 10, and the rule is expected to pass.
The Illinois Mercury Rule has been a priority for Environment Illinois for two years. Our staff have worked to educate Illinoisans about mercury and the coal-fired power plants that are its chief source in-state.
When power plant mercury lands in waterways, the neurotoxin accumulates in animals, becomes concentrated as it works its way up the food chain, and ends up in fish that Illinoisans eat. An April Environment Illinois analysis showed that the average mercury concentration in fish in 36 Illinois counties, 66 individual lakes and streams, and 16 fish species exceeded the U.S. EPA safe limit.
When a pregnant mother eats contaminated fish, mercury can cause irreparable damage to the developing fetus’ central nervous system, resulting in developmental delays, decreased IQ and memory and attention problems.
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