300 STATE HOUSE

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 62706

217/782-8121

19 April 2006

Mr

. Nicholas J . Melas

1555 N

. Astor, # 225E

Chicago IL 60610

REGARDING

: IEPA's Proposed Mercury Emissions Reduction Rule

(PCB Case No: R2006-025)

Dear Melas

~ UL

:

I write to urge your support of the efforts of Governor Blagojevich and the Illinois EPA to

reduce coal-fired power plant mercury emissions by ninety percent by mid-year 2009 . If the

proposed mercury rule becomes law, it will benefit my citizens and for all Illinoisans

.

The health hazards of mercury are well known : mercury is a potent toxin that puts

developing fetuses and children at risk of developmental delays, decreased IQ, and memory

and attention difficulties . Higher doses also impair adults and increase the risk of heart

attacks. Humans get most of their mercury from eating fish- and mercury already

contaminates fish in everybody of water in Illinois

.

A report released today by Illinois Public Interest Research Group shows that several of

Chicago's park lagoons contain some of the most mercury contaminated fish in Illinois

. The

lagoon at Sherman Park, only a few miles from my district, was the site of the single highest

fish mercury concentration ever found in Illinois

. And the state's testing in Lake Michigan

has found dangerously high mercury levels in such popular sport fishing species as

bass,

trout, and coho and Chinook salmon . The mercury in these fish endangers everyone, but it

does disproportionate harm to people in our communities for whom the lake and park

lagoons are an important part of daily life : the recreational anglers, commercial and

subsistence fishermen, charter boat operators and their clients, Illinoisans who buy local fish

at the market, and all of their families .

Fortunately, despite the seriousness of the mercury problem, the proposed rule is a solution we

can implement now. The twenty-one coal-fired power plants in Illinois are the single largest

source of in-state mercury emissions

. Currently available technologies can capture 9O%

of this

mercury before it leaves the stack Recent IEPA modeling predicts the increased cost to the

average Illinois ratepayer would be less than $1

.50 per month.

ORIGINAL

ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

BARBARA FLYNN CURRIE

HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER

RECEIVED

CLERK'S

OFFICE

MAY

-

8 2006

Pollution

OF

Board

25TH REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT

EX OFFICIO MEMBER

ALL HOUSE COMMITTEES

---

The Illinois mercury rule is a response to the federal EPA's weak, industry-drafted mercury

rules that won't address local hotspots of pollution and will delay meaningful mercury

reductions for at least a decade, putting another generation of developing children and the

health of Lake Michigan at risk

. Three states have already gone beyond the federal rule

. We

should adopt the IEPA proposal to do the same in Illinois

.

Of particular concern to me are recent findings that power plant mercury disproportionately

impacts people living near the plants

. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

researchers found, for example, that 48 percent of the mercury deposited in Lake Michigan came

from sources within 60 miles of the lake

. Moreover, sixteen of the twenty-five top sources

of

mercury deposited into the lake were coal-fired power plants

. I urge you to resist a weakening of

the rule that would allow individual plants to install less than the best available controls

or

achieve significantly less than 90 percent reductions .

For the sake of families that want a healthy environment for their children, and on behalf of

the citizens I represent living near contaminated waters, I ask you to approve of a strong

Illinois mercury reduction rule .

Sincerely,

Barbara

~"

Flynn Currie

House Majority Leader

BFOcas