Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a consent decree that would that would allow for the passage of new rules that would aim to reduce toxic emissions of soot, mercury, and other chemicals from coal-fired and oil-burning power plants. The move was one that drew praise from environmental activist groups around the country but prompted the power industry to warn of rising energy costs should the rules go into effect in the future.
According to a settlement agreement reached in a federal lawsuit brought against the EPA by a coalition of public health and environmental groups, the agency plans to adopt this new set of rules by November 2011. The lawsuit was based on the EPA’s failure to meet the deadline for issuing regulations controlling toxic air pollution from power plants as per the Clean Air Act of 1990.
Mercury emissions were the prime focus of the lawsuit. Records indicate that 50 tons of mercury is released into the air annually from the 1,300 coal-fired power plants located around the country. However, the power industry argues that technology to trap mercury is cost prohibitive, and that energy companies have been hesitant to pass costs on to consumers. In addition, the suit addressed soot pollution, which can cause myriad respiratory problems including asthma and bronchitis as well as heart attacks and strokes.
Power plants have long been a hazard to the environment and to those in their employ. For decades, power plants of all varieties made widespread use of asbestos as an insulation material and many workers who encountered old or damaged asbestos on the job eventually developed malignant mesothelioma, a serious cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs and is difficult to treat.
Power plant workers, as well as those employed in similar industries that made rampant use of asbestos insulation, such as oil refineries, were exposed to asbestos on a near daily basis and even wore protective gear that was made of asbestos in order to shield them from the high temperatures common inside and outside the plants. Today, even though many plants have been updated, some have not and the hazard continues to be present.
Mesothelioma clinics throughout the country are visited regularly by power plant workers who are victims of the disease. Unfortunately for them, a mesothelioma cure isn’t currently on the horizon but doctors worldwide continue to search for new and better ways to treat the disease and new methods for early detection of this type of cancer, which can remain latent for decades and usually doesn’t surface until it is too late to treat effectively.
