Rver Rouge, MI – Today public health experts and environmental advocates called on the Governor to dramatically reduce the mercury danger to Metro Detroiters who rely on fishing for food. With Detroit Edison’s River Rouge power plant nearby, members
of Sierra Club’s Mackinac Chapter and the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC) met at a popular fishing spot on the Detroit River to highlight the particular risk to people who regularly eat fish from local waters.

“Fishing around here is both recreation and a cheap source of food. Lots of people in the community eat fish right out of Detroit’s heavily polluted waters,” said MEC’s Roshani Deraniyalgale-Dantas. “Some are aware of the risk, but many are not.”

Sierra Club’s Rhonda Anderson, an environmental justice advocate, encouraged the state to better inform citizens about these health risks. She also urged tighter restrictions on coal-fired power plants, a primary source of airborne mercury pollution.

“We know these facilities are not doing all they can to clean up. They should be required to install today’s technology that can cut mercury pollution by 90 percent. This is far beyond the 70 percent reduction by 2018 required by EPA’s standard.” According to
Anderson, utilities are unlikely to meet even this delayed deadline due to provisions in the weaker federal rule.

The Granholm administration recently joined a multi-state lawsuit opposing the federal rule. Now, the Governor is due to announce her decision on crafting state-based rules to reduce toxic mercury pollution from Michigan power
plants.

“All eyes are on Gov. Granholm,” said MEC’s David Gard. “We know what the problem is and how to solve it. Unfortunately, the Bush administration caved to industry pressure on mercury pollution. Now it’s up to the Governor to do the right thing for Michigan families.”

Tess Karwoski, a Registered Nurse working to highlight the link between environmental toxins and negative health impacts, warned of higher risk to young children and the unborn.

“Mercury exposure can permanently damage brain tissue that is still developing,” said Karwoski. “Among other effects, this can lead to long-term deficiencies in language development, and attention and memory problems.”

Governor Granholm’s decision comes on the heels of new research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on mercury pollution in the Great Lakes. According to the study released this week, 16 of the top 25 sources of mercury found in Lake Michigan are coal-fired power plants, with most of the mercury pollution
blowing toward the lake from facilities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

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