MADISON, WI — Clean Wisconsin has joined a legal battle to protect the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year. The rule tightens mercury and other hazardous air pollution limits for coal and oil-fired power plants as part of sweeping new pollution standards recently set by the Biden Administration. Last month, a coalition of 23 mainly GOP-led states filed suit in federal court to block the new standard, which would reduce mercury emissions from existing power plants by as much as 70 percent.
Clean Wisconsin General Counsel Katie Nekola says protecting the new standard is vital to protecting the health of families across Wisconsin.
“This standard limits the amount of mercury, heavy metals, hydrochloric acid and other toxic pollutants that power plants are allowed to release into our environment, and there is no question we need those limits to be as strong as possible,” Nekola says. “Mercury is an extremely potent neurotoxin. The new standard set by the Biden Administration that Clean Wisconsin is now working to defend will mean less mercury contaminating our air, our water, and our fish here in Wisconsin.”
Clean Wisconsin is the only Wisconsin-based environmental group intervening in the lawsuit. A historically coal-reliant state, Wisconsin currently gets more than a third of its energy from coal-fired powerplants.
“We’ve been living with the health harms of coal for too long in Wisconsin, and our communities have paid a heavy price. Exposure to mercury and other hazardous air pollutants hurts people who live near those plants, who breathe in this pollution, and it hurts people who regularly rely on fish for food,” Nekola says.
“Mercury is particularly dangerous for infants developing in the womb and very young children as their rapidly developing nervous systems are more vulnerable to harm,” says Clean Wisconsin Science Program Director Dr. Paul Mathewson. “Prenatal and early childhood mercury exposure can cause birth defects, permanent neurological issues, and developmental problems in children, leading to lifelong consequences. Mercury exposure can also harm the kidneys and the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems.”
The EPA’s tighter limits on mercury and other hazardous air pollutants also include a continuous monitoring requirement that would provide significantly more information about emissions to local communities than the previous periodic testing rule. Nekola says that monitoring could enable Wisconsin communities to take actions to reduce their exposure and could also enable plant owners and operators to quickly catch and fix faulty controls, which would further reduce toxic air pollution emissions.
