New Report: Led by Luminant’s Power Plants, Texas #1 in the Nation for Mercury Pollution

DALLAS – A  new report shows that Dallas-based Luminant leads the nation’s power companies in emissions of toxic mercury.  The Environment Texas analysis, Dirty Energy’s Assault on our Health: Mercury, finds Luminant’s coal-fired power plants propelled Texas to release more of this brain-damaging chemical than any other state in the country. The report comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is set to propose a standard by March to limit mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants.

“Powering our homes should not poison Texas’s kids,” said Robert Ressler, Federal Field Associate for Environment Texas “Mercury pollution from power plants puts our kids and our environment at risk, and we need the Environmental Protection Agency to force these facilities to clean up.”

Coal-fired power plants, which are the largest source of mercury pollution in the United States, emit mercury into our air.  The mercury then falls into our waterways from rain or snow, where it builds up in fish then the animals—and people—that consume the fish.  Even very small amounts of mercury can have significant impacts, as studies suggest that a gram-sized drop of mercury can contaminate an entire 20 acre lake.

Our research found that:

• Power plants in Texas emitted 16,350 pounds of mercury pollution in 2009, ranking Texas power plants 1st in the nation for mercury emissions from power plants. 4 of Luminant’s dirtiest power plants emitted 7,099 pounds of mercury in 2009.  This ranks Luminant first among the nation’s dirtiest electric companies, producing 43.4% of all Texas’s mercury emissions.  In total, coal-fired power plants emitted 134,365 pounds of mercury in 2009. Power plants in the top ten worst polluting states, led by Texas, were responsible for 56 percent of all mercury emitted from power plants that year.
• Mercury pollution is a widespread health risk. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that one in six women of childbearing age has enough mercury in her bloodstream to put her unborn child at risk for the health effects of mercury pollution, including learning disabilities, developmental disorders, and lower IQs, should she become pregnant. This means that more than 689,000 of the 4.1 million babies born every year could be exposed to dangerous levels of mercury pollution.
• Mercury pollution harms our environment.  Fish and animals that consume fish suffer from reproductive failure and mortality as a result of mercury pollution. More U.S. waters are closed to fishing because of mercury contamination than because of any other toxic contamination problem. In Texas, 361,433 acres of lakes and the entire Texas Gulf Coast are under fish consumption advisories.

The report comes as the EPA is set to propose a standard to limit mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants in March, and finalize the standard by November.  Environment Texas is calling on the EPA to issue a strong standard that will significantly reduce these harmful pollutants from power plants, and specifically cut mercury pollution by more than 90%. But while the EPA is undertaking this rulemaking, Congress and industry lobbyists are working to prevent the EPA from doing its job, by threatening to introduce legislation to block this and other rules to limit dangerous air pollution.

“Pollution from coal-fired power plants needs to be stopped,” stated Molly Rooke of the Dallas Sierra Club.  “For example, right here in Texas a new plant called Las Brisas is in the permitting process.  If allowed to be constructed, Las Brisas will emit and additional 220 pounds of mercury into Texas’s environment.”

Environment Texas also highlighted recent comments by Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst that he will push “regulatory and fiscal incentives” to phase out the use of coal-fired power plants in Texas.  The group stated such a move could significantly cut mercury and other pollution in Texas and looked forward to hearing more details from the Lieutenant Governor.

“Texas parents do everything they can to protect their children’s health; now it’s time for the EPA to do its part,” said Ressler.