4 Years After Court Order EPA Won't Impose Mercury Limits On Cement Plants

[hatrack]

Nov. 9—TAMPA, Fla. — "Four years ago, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on the amount of mercury cement factories may discharge into the air. Today those plants, including seven in Florida, still are discharging mercury, with no legal limits. Environmental lawyers went back to court in recent weeks to get firm deadlines for the EPA to set those limits.

The agency's refusal to act infuriates December McSherry, an Alachua County resident. She and her husband raise black Angus cattle within five miles of a Florida Rock Industries cement plant. Florida Rock discharges 147 pounds of mercury a year, according to EPA records. "This ... accumulates on the soil," McSherry said. "It's going to have an effect on row crops and cattle production."

Segundo Fernandez, a lawyer representing Florida Rock Industries, called the company's mercury emissions minimal. "Mercury emissions under the law don't even have to be addressed with technology until you go over 200 pounds a year," Fernandez said.

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The EPA did not answer The Tampa Tribune's questions regarding the latest legal action to set deadlines, called a writ of mandamus. Instead, the agency sent a statement saying it is reanalyzing what would constitute the best available technology to control pollutants from cement factories. The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments require that cement plants achieve the maximum possible reductions in airborne pollutants. "The reanalysis involved complex technological and economic considerations," the EPA statement says. "A proposal date has not been set. The court imposed no deadline."

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http://www.enn.com/biz.html?id=72

[knowbody0]

1. we need more autistic children to experiment on

[struggle4progress]

2. 200 pounds a year ain't minimal. eom

[SaintLouisBlues]

3. Peachy

Missouri has just green-lighted what will be the world's largest cement plant in Ste. Genevieve County, about 50 miles down the Mississippi from here.

Environmentalists put up a decent fight, but big business prevailed yet again.

[struggle4progress]

4. Pay attention to what they burn as "fuel."