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23 May 2007

To: Wisconsin DNR
Re: Strengthen NR446 Clean Air Mercury Rule

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin supports strengthening NR446 mercury air emission administrative rule.  For years we have known that mercury pollution is destroying our lakes, contaminating fish and endangering public health.

• The Department of Natural Resources has issued a fish consumption advisory warning for every body of water in the state, especially such popular sport fish as muskies, walleye, and bass.
• According to the Wisconsin Department of Health, it is estimated that one in eight women in Wisconsin has enough mercury in her bloodstream to potentially harm a developing fetus.  Mercury is a potent neurotoxin, and exposure can cause attention and language deficits, impaired memory, and impaired visual and motor function in children, as well as cardiac problems in adults.
• Mercury pollution also threatens Wisconsin’s tourism economy. Recreational fishing alone is a $2.3 billion per year industry in Wisconsin, directly supporting over 60,000 jobs. Wisconsin ranks second in the country for the number of fishing licenses sold to nonresidents.
• The largest source of mercury pollution is coal burning power plants, which account for over 65% of emissions in Wisconsin.  Fortunately, the technology is available to drastically reduce mercury pollution from power plants now.

The League urges that NR446 Clean Air Mercury Rule be strengthened and reflect the following points:

• Reduce mercury power plant emissions by 90% or more in the shortest timeframe possible.  This is the standard requested through a citizen petition signed by many fishing groups as well as health and environmental organizations.
• A 90% reduction by 2012 is in line with more than 20 states that have required more stringent mercury controls on coal-fired power plants, including Minnesota and Illinois, our neighbors in the Upper Midwest.  These states are going beyond the Bush Administration’s rules that will only require 70% reductions by 2025 suing a cap-and-trade plan.
• The technology is available today to reduce toxic mercury pollution so that parents can once again take their children fishing and eat the fish caught without fear of poisoning their family.
• The DNR mercury rule should not allow mercury pollution trading.  Each utility power plant should be required to meet the new standard.  Every lake in Wisconsin has so much mercury contamination to require fish consumption advisories.  Also mercury air emissions can create toxic hotspots near the source.

Thank you for the opportunity to present the position of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin on reducing mercury air pollution.