State Finalizes New Rules To Reduce Mercury Pollution From Power Plants: Rules Will Offer Toughest Protection in the Nation 5/26/04

After 30 Years, It's Time To Clean Up The Filthy Five

Coal-and oil-fired power plants are Massachusetts’ worst industrial air polluters. The “Filthy Five”—our state's oldest and dirtiest plants—are responsible for about 90 percent of all power plant pollution.

For more than 30 years, these plants have exploited a loophole that allows them to avoid modern emission standards. But thanks to MASSPIRG and our allies, the state has decided to finally clean up these outdated, dirty plants.

As the cleanup deadline approaches, PG&E, Mirant and other power plant owners are digging in their heels and fighting to undermine these reforms. That's why we need to make sure Gov. Romney finishes the job by faithfully enforcing strong standards to clean up the Filthy Five. And we need your help.

The Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, owned by PG&E, is the largest industrial source of air pollution in the region, emitting up to 10 times the pollution that modern plants are allowed to emit.

Poisonous Mercury
Mercury is such a potent neurotoxin that just one gram can contaminate a 20-acre lake, causing birth defects and hearing, memory or vision loss. The Filthy Five emit about 200 pounds of mercury each year.

Global Warming Pollution
Scientists predict global warming will mean more extreme weather—more 100 degree summer days, more below-zero winters, more violent storms. Yet power plants still pump over 45 million tons of carbon dioxide into our air each year. Unchecked, those emissions will eventually help change the face of our coastline and the native habitat of our state.

In Massachusetts, outdated power plants are responsible for 441 premature deaths, 8,800 asthma attacks and 78,000 lost work days every year.

Action Long Overdue

A 30-Year Loophole
In 1970, when Congress passed the Clean Air Act, the nation's oldest power plants were exempted from new pollution limits because it was assumed they would soon be retired. Today, these outdated relics are still coughing up far more pollution than modern plants are allowed to emit.

First And Strongest In The Nation
After five years of hard work by MASSPIRG and our allies, Gov. Swift announced a cleanup mandate in 2001. That mandate is the first and strongest in the nation to clean up old, dirty power plants.

Power Companies Dragging Their Feet

Lawsuits And Delays
PG&E, which is trying to sell two of the Filthy Five, is pushing for a two-year delay in meeting the new standards. Mirant, owner of the Filthy Five plant on the Cape, is also pushing for an extension and moving forward with a lawsuit. While working in court to undermine the rules, power plant owners are also lobbying for weaker mercury and carbon pollution limits.

It Can Be Done
Meeting the standards is clearly achievable. The Mystic plant in Everett is cleaning up its fuel supply and is expected to meet new standards by the end of this year.

If clean air rules are faithfully enforced,mercury pollution from the Filthy Five will be cut by 90 percent, global warming pollution by 10 percent,and smog and soot pollution by more than 50 percent.

We're Calling On Gov. Romney To Finish The Job

So far, Gov. Romney has rejected one of PG&E's stalling tactics. But that has motivated the power companies to lobby even harder. That's why MASSPIRG needs you to urge Gov. Romney to:

• require the Filthy Five to emit 90 percent less mercury by 2006 without “pollution trading ”;

• require each plant to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent at the stack; and

• stand firm against the power companies’ assault on these rules.

New Energy Solutions

To reduce our dependence on the Filthy Five and other dirty energy sources, MASSPIRG is working to:

• Improve energy efficiency in Massachusetts by 20 percent by 2010, for example, by winning approval of the Appliance Energy Efficiency Bill (HB 1270); and

• Increase our use of clean, renewable power to 20 percent by 2020, for example, by protecting the ratepayers’ investment in the Renewable Energy Trust Fund.