MADISON (WKOW) — Clean Wisconsin has joined a coalition of public health, environmental and community advocates to file a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s repeal of standards that limit mercury, lead, arsenic and other air pollution from coal-fired power plants.
According to Clean Wisconsin, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which took effect in 2015, have driven down dangerous mercury pollution from power plants by more than 90%. They say the standards have also delivered significant public health benefits, lowering the risk of cancer, heart and lung disease and premature death.
The lawsuit also challenges the rollback of real-time continuous emissions monitoring at power plants.
In Wisconsin, most exposure to mercury comes from contaminated fish. 106 of the state’s inland waterbodies and both Great Lakes and their tributaries have fish consumption advisories due to mercury from power plants, according to the group. Nearly 40% of Wisconsinites consume locally-caught fish.
“The EPA has officially crossed the line between negligently ignoring its duties under federal law and actively pursuing policies that harm human health,” Clean Wisconsin General Counsel Katie Nekola said. “These are chemicals that cause cancer, neurological damage and birth defects, among many other harms. There is absolutely no justification for this unprecedented and illegal action on the part of EPA.”
The repeal follows a two-year exemption from the protections that the Trump administration granted to many coal plants.