As Expected, Indiana Chooses Federal Plan

There were no surprises yesterday when the Indiana Pollution Control Board opted to stick with Federal CAMR standards rather than adopt their own tougher mercury laws. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor, 11-1, but there was some debate.

An excerpt from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette follows;

The Indiana Air Pollution Control Board on Wednesday voted 11-1 to move forward with the federal minimum in mercury emissions reductions rather than a more stringent regulation sought by environmental advocates.

The seemingly strong vote, however, was marred by several members of the board expressing disappointment that after years of study and months of negotiating no compromise could be reached.

“I feel like we have spun our wheels unnecessarily to get nowhere,” board Chairman James Miner said.
[...]
Gail Charnley, who works for Health Risk Strategies in Washington, told the panel that only 5 percent to 10 percent of the mercury found in Indiana’s fish is attributable to Indiana power plants.

Most of it, she says, comes from other states as well as China and India.

But concerned citizen Lisa Smith said that China and India are probably blaming Indiana.

“Everybody blames somebody else, and all we get is the bare minimum,” she said.

Board member Thomas Anderson said the board ended up focusing on the wrong issues – such as money and technology – and not enough on public health.

You can read the full article here.