“Long Range Transport” - that’s the defensive battle cry of a polluting coal industry that wants you to think that China and India are to blame for the presence of toxic mercury in America’s waterways. The truth is that U.S. coal-fired power plants spew 48 tons of mercury into our environment every year and are the largest source of mercury air emissions in the U.S. And recent EPA-sponsored studies have shown that around 70% of these mercury emissions are ending up in waterways that are within a couple of hundred miles of these plants, leading to mercury hotspots across the country.
Mercury emissions from the 1,100 U.S. coal-fired power plants account for more than 40% of all airborne mercury emissions in the nation. This mercury falls into our rivers, lakes and oceans - polluting our water, our food, our bodies and our babies. Just 1/70th of a teaspoon - a single gram - of mercury in a 25-acre lake can make the fish in it unsafe to eat. Every state now has mercury fish advisories, covering millions of lake acres and hundreds of thousands of miles of rivers.
Available and affordable technology can reduce mercury emissions from existing facilities by 90%, but the government doesn’t require it and the coal industry would rather poison you and your children than spend the money necessary to reduce the amount of toxic mercury in our environment. The truth is that it’s time for the coal mining and power companies to stop pointing fingers and start taking responsibility for polluting our lakes, rivers, and streams, our fish and our children.
Source: TheDirtyLie.com