As the new home of WISPIRG's environmental work, Wisconsin Environment can be contacted with any questions regarding this testimony.
Thank you for giving
the public the opportunity to testify and submit public comments regarding
the DNR's proposed mercury rules.
My name is Kerry Schumann.
I am the Director of the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, or WISPIRG.
We are a non profit, non partisan advocacy organizations working to protect
the environment, protect consumers and promote democracy. We have about 15,000
members statewide.
I am also here as a mother.
This is my ten month-old-daughter Emma. Like many first time moms, during
my pregnancy I read books and magazines and medical handouts regarding every
part of my pregnancy: how to stay fit, what medications to avoid, what physical
changes to expect. And, probably most importantly, what to eat to stay healthy
and help my baby grow. Fish was one of the foods highly recommended because
of the high protein and vitamin D levels. In fact, with the exception of shark,
swordfish, tilefish and king mackerel, the FDA recommends pregnant women eat
12 ounces of fish per week and EPA guidelines allow pregnant women to eat
8 ounces of any type of fish each week.
Having been involved in
the issue of mercury contamination for over a decade, I was well aware that
eating that much fish could result in poisoning my baby, causing delayed fetal
brain growth and nervous system damage. As a precaution, I avoided eating
any fish during my pregnancy.
The Wisconsin DNR can
be applauded for much of the work they have done regarding mercury pollution.
The DNR has implemented a relatively strong fish consumption advisory system
and has taken the initiative to recognize the severity of the mercury problem
by drafting these rules.
However, these rules do
not go far enough. Pressure from the utilities has riddled these rules with
special interest loopholes.
Mercury is a potent pollutant,
toxic even in very small quantities. It damages the kidneys and nervous system.
It can affect a person's ability to feel, see, taste and move. It is particularly
damaging to children and developing fetuses because of their small size and
developing bodies and minds. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources, it's in every single one of Wisconsin's 15,057 lakes. The Center
for Disease Control estimates that 1 in 10 women of childbearing age in the
U.S. have enough mercury in their blood to put their children at risk of damage
to their neurological systems. The National Academy of Sciences estimates
that 60,000 children born in the U.S. each year are born with a higher risk
of learning difficulties because their mothers ate too much mercury-contaminated
fish during pregnancy. A recent report by USPIRG and the Environmental Working
Group found that mercury contamination is a far greater health risk to developing
fetuses than previously realized, and that FDA and EPA standards fall far
short of protecting women during pregnancy.
Despite these facts, the
biggest mercury polluter in Wisconsin is completely exempt from regulation.
Wisconsin utilities create 40% of the state's mercury pollution, which then
falls to the ground with rain and snow, contaminating lakes, ponds, rivers,
streams and the fish who live in them. One chemical plant, Vulcan Chemical,
accounts for 20% of mercury emissions alone. There is no secret about where
the mercury comes from and how it ends up in the fish we eat.
While the Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources is proposing to cut Wisconsin's
mercury pollution, pressure from utilities and other special interests has
riddled the DNR proposal with loopholes.
* The rules will delay
reductions for 15 years. The proposal waits 15 years to achieve its goal,
despite the fact that the technology exists to achieve it faster. Mercury
contamination is a very serious health problem. Waiting 15 years to reduce
mercury emissions will dramatically exacerbate the existing problem. The technology
exists now, utilities and other industries just need to use it.
WISPIRG calls on the DNR
to require 90% reductions by 2007, keeping in line with pending legislation
at the federal level.
* The rules will give
industries opportunities to weaken the law. The state keeps the door open
for special interest rollbacks in the future by calling for reconsideration
of the rules after the first, second and fifth years of the program. I can
only imagine what the utilities will claim at each of these points in the
program - that it's not technologically feasible or that it costs too much.
Sometimes public policy needs to push industries to do the job they should
be doing willingly. This is one of those cases. As long as we continue to
allow the utilities to weaken standards, we will be putting the public health
at risk in favor of one of the most powerful special interests in Wisconsin.
WISPIRG opposes reconsideration
of the rules. The state needs to stand by the policy they create.
* The rules allow utilities
to reduce their mercury emissions by only 65%. These rules allow the worst
mercury emissions to be cut the least. In other words, while mercury overall
is cut 90%, utilities only have to cut their emissions 65% by participating
in community take-back programs. The biggest problem with this component of
the rule is that few people are ever exposed to mercury in a thermometer.
But we're all exposed to mercury emitted into the air from power plant smokestacks.
Community take-back programs are also already happening in many communities
around Wisconsin. This is just another way for utilities to avoid cleaning
up their act.
WISPIRG supports community
product take-back programs, but opposes allowing utilities to avoid mercury
reductions from their plants through these programs.
* The rules allow utilities
and other polluters to avoid meeting mercury reductions at all. Utilities
are allowed to trade mercury emission credits with other industries in Wisconsin,
a practice which can allow some plants to completely avoid reducing their
mercury emissions, causing "toxic hot spots," communities where
residents feel far greater affects of mercury, from lower IQs to increased
birth defects.
WISPIRG opposes any emissions
credit trading in the rules.
In the past two weeks,
WISPIRG has heard from over 700 Wisconsin residents about these rules and
their concerns about mercury contamination. I'm sure we will hear from many
more before this comment period is over. Wisconsinites want to be able to
fish in our waters and eat the fish they catch. The fishing industry needs
to know it can continue as a viable industry in Wisconsin. Most importantly,
Wisconsin citizens need to know that their children are safe and can lead
healthy lives in Wisconsin.
When deciding on the final
version of these rules, I ask the DNR staff, Natural Resources Board, Secretary
Bazzell, the legislature and other decision makers to base their decisions
on the health and well-being of our children, not on the pressures of the
utility companies.
