| ||||||||||||||
ENVIRONMENT:Maryland Is Called the “Persian Gulf” of Mercury Pollution in the U.S.
Out of hundreds of power plants examined nationwide, three Maryland plants were among the very top emitters of mercury, a harmful neurotoxin. The power plants, located in Prince George’s, Montgomery and Anne Arundel Counties, burn tens of thousands of tons of coal per day and are owned by Mirant Corporation as well as Constellation Energy Group. The study also shows that one Mirant-owned plant, the Chalk Point plant in Prince George’s County, is the fourth worst emitter of nitrogen pollution in the US. Nitrogen is the single most harmful pollutant killing the Chesapeake Bay, according to scientists. Last March in Annapolis, nearly one third of Maryland state lawmakers who were voluntarily tested showed elevated levels of mercury in their bodies, indicating the severity of the problem in the state. “Shockingly, this study shows Maryland surpassing virtually all other states in the foul air we literally choke on from these dirty plants,” said Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network in a prepared statement to the press. “The real tragedy is that these power plants could easily be cleaned up without impacting consumers....” The study, called “Dirty Kilowatts,” is based primarily on U.S. EPA data analyzed by the Environmental Integrity Project in Washington, D.C. Mirant Corporation, headquartered in Atlanta, led efforts earlier this year to defeat legislation in Maryland that would have cleaned up the state’s dirtiest plants. The Chalk Point plant, according to government data, causes more than one hundred avoidable deaths per year directly related to its pollution emissions. The plant also contributes to avoidable cases of asthma and heart attacks and contributes to the growing mercury contamination found in Maryland fish. For a copy of the Dirty Kilowatts report, visit environmentalintegrity.org or contact Mike Tidwell at mwtidwell@aol.com or 240-460-5838).
Copyright © 2005 The Baltimore Chronicle.
All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent. This story was published on May 12, 2005. |
Local News & Opinion
Ref. : Local Newsbriefs Travel
Films, Arts & Education
Letters
Ref. : Letters to the editor Open Letters:
06.24 Mr. Holder, You Must Hold Torturers Accountable Health & Environment
06.29 Thinking about Climate 06.26 False Health-Scare Ad on CNN 06.25 Louella Learns the Limits of Medicare 06.23 The Simple Answer to America’s Health Care Crisis: Medicare for All 06.23 Tell ABC: Include Single-Payer in Healthcare Debate 06.23 Serving the Medical-Industrial Complex 06.22 Thinking about Recoveries 06.20 Obama's Health Care Waterloo 06.15 Obama, Like Clinton Before Him, is Blowing the Chance for Real Health Care Reform 06.11 Two Key Health-Care Numbers 06.10 Big Breakthroughs for Single Payer Health Care 06.10 Readying Americans for Dangerous, Mandatory Vaccinations Media Watching
06.29 WP's Connolly Back, on Health Reform 06.17 Hypocrisy and Hope: Western Coverage, Iranian Courage 06.15 Excusing Outrages of the Right 06.11 Tying Obama to Bush's Budget Mess US Politics, Policy & Culture
06.30 Obama's Torture Hypocrisy 06.30 Court Circular: Annals of Imperial Continuity 06.29 Obama, They Want You to Fail 06.26 Who to Trust on a Truth Commission? 06.26 Tarnished Shields: The Morally Bankrupt 'Family Values' Republican Leadership 06.25 America's "Bases of Empire" 06.24 Twelve Angry White People: Jury Nullification in a Pennsylvania Coal Town 06.24 Touring Empire's Ruins 06.23 Employers are Undermining the Economic Stimulus Program 06.19 Criminalizing Dissent: Obama Pot Calls Iranian Kettle Black 06.17 Afghanistan's Operation Phoenix 06.16 Are You Ready for War with a Demonized Iran? 06.13 Where's the Anger as the Wheels Come Off Obama's and the Democrats' Recovery Program? 06.10 Waiving the Rules for Old Glory 06.10 Obama's Era of Openness Is Closed High Crimes?
07.03 Reviewing Marjorie Cohn and Kathleen Gilberd's "Rules of Disengagement" 07.01 Iraq: A Bitter Strategic Failure 06.25 It's All Good, Again: 'Uptick' in the American-Made Tides of Violence in Iraq 06.22 Obama Opposes Plame-gate Release 06.21 Dexter's Legions: The "Good" Killers of the "Good" War 06.18 Extending the Tradition: Proudly Taking American Torture Into the Future 06.15 New UN Report Denounces America's Human Rights Record 06.14 Fear Rules Economics & Business Non/Mis/Malfeasance
07.01 Michael Hudson's "Super Imperialism:" The Economic Strategy of Imperial America 06.23 Obama's Financial Reform Proposal - A Stealth Scheme for Global Monetary Control 06.10 Cyberscares About Cyberwars Equal Cybermoney International
07.01 Pirates of the Mediterranean 06.29 Color Revolutions, Old and New 06.25 Iran Divided & the 'October Suprise' 06.23 Astringent Corrective: AbuKhalil on Iran's Turmoil 06.20 Are the Iranian Protests Another US Orchestrated “Color Revolution?” 06.20 Through a Glass Darkly: Sifting Myth and Fact on Iran 06.19 Iran's Election and US - Iranian Elections 06.16 The Ir-Af-Pak War: Obama Looses the Manhunters 06.12 Israeli War Crimes Against Children During Operation Cast Lead We are a non-profit Internet-only newspaper publication founded in 1973. Your donation is essential to our survival.
|
| ||||||||||||