MERCURY POLLUTION IN THE SOUTH
SELC is holding power companies and other industries to strict requirements for limiting mercury pollution―a major threat to human health. This is an especially serious problem in the Southeast, where mercury from our coal-burning power plants falls into wetlands and slow-moving streams and enters the human food chain by becoming concentrated in fish. When pregnant women and nursing mothers eat just a small amount of the neurotoxin, their children can suffer problems ranging from lost IQ to learning disabilities. Representing four leading healthcare organizations, SELC helped win a 2008 federal court ruling that will require the maximum achievable mercury controls on coal-burning power plants. We also have pushed states in our region to adopt their own tough mercury standards.
