300 STATE HOUSE
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 62706
217/782-8121
ORIGINAL
19 April 2006
Illinois Pollution Control Board
James R Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph, Suite 11-500
Chicago, Illinois 60601
REGARDING. IEPA's Proposed Mercury Emissions Reduction Rule
(PCB Case No: R2006-025)
Dear Illinois Pollution Control Board members :
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 every body 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 90%
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 .
ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BARBARA FLYNN CURRIE
HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER
RECEIVED
CLERK'S OFFICE
APR 21 2006
STATE OF ILLINOIS
POIIt~`I0499=
0141STRICT
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
.
)L~
Sincerely,Barbara
Flynn Currie
xl-
House Majority Leader
BFCxas
