Three Michigan coal-fired power plants owned by DTE, including a
Monroe plant that is the second-largest producer of mercury pollution
among 144 plants in the Great Lakes region, joined a political debate
Wednesday even though DTE fully expects to meet tough new federal
pollution rules by 2015.
On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council raised concerns about efforts in the U.S. Senate to block the rules that would cut emissions in the eight states by about 90%.
Authors of the environmental group's report titled "Poisoning the Great Lakes -- Mercury Emissions from Coal Fired Power Plants in the Great Lakes Region" acknowledged that many power companies, including DTE, have made significant changes and expect to meet the Environmental Protection Agency rules.
John Austerberry, a spokesman for DTE, said the Monroe generating plant (the biggest in the Midwest and fourth biggest in the country) spent $2 billion in the last decade on major renovations and "will be in compliance by the deadline," along with two smaller DTE plants at Belle River and St. Clair that also were among the region's 25 worst mercury producers.
Vincent Hellwig, chief of the air quality division for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, confirmed that DTE already retrofitted two of its four units at Monroe "and once they finish the other two I'm sure they'll get a reduction of 85%-90% and meet the federal standard."
The 25 facilities named in the NRDC report accounted for more than half (7,000 tons) of the mercury released from Great Lakes power plants before 2010.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said he will try to use the Congressional Review Act to prevent the EPA from imposing the air pollution standards.
Inhofe said the rules will cost jobs. A vote is expected in the Senate by June 18. Opponents of the rule are running TV ads to stir public opinion.
Mercury is a toxin whose harmful effects on the human brain have been known for centuries. It is released in smoke when coal is burned. It settles on the land and water where tiny organisms convert it to methylmercury, a form that is absorbed by humans and other animals.
It is especially prevalent in fish, and a DNR guide recommends that some species in some lakes and rivers should not be eaten because of mercury and other toxins.
The NRDC said that in 62% of the Great Lakes and inland lake areas where fish were tested for mercury, six popular species were found to exceed recommended safe levels -- largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, muskellunge, walleye and lake trout.
A national study found that 5% of American women of childbearing age (16-49) had elevated levels of mercury in their bodies.
Those are significant numbers in a state such as Michigan, where 14% of residents fish, said Cindy Copeland, one of the report's authors.
On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council raised concerns about efforts in the U.S. Senate to block the rules that would cut emissions in the eight states by about 90%.
Authors of the environmental group's report titled "Poisoning the Great Lakes -- Mercury Emissions from Coal Fired Power Plants in the Great Lakes Region" acknowledged that many power companies, including DTE, have made significant changes and expect to meet the Environmental Protection Agency rules.
John Austerberry, a spokesman for DTE, said the Monroe generating plant (the biggest in the Midwest and fourth biggest in the country) spent $2 billion in the last decade on major renovations and "will be in compliance by the deadline," along with two smaller DTE plants at Belle River and St. Clair that also were among the region's 25 worst mercury producers.
Vincent Hellwig, chief of the air quality division for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, confirmed that DTE already retrofitted two of its four units at Monroe "and once they finish the other two I'm sure they'll get a reduction of 85%-90% and meet the federal standard."
The 25 facilities named in the NRDC report accounted for more than half (7,000 tons) of the mercury released from Great Lakes power plants before 2010.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said he will try to use the Congressional Review Act to prevent the EPA from imposing the air pollution standards.
Inhofe said the rules will cost jobs. A vote is expected in the Senate by June 18. Opponents of the rule are running TV ads to stir public opinion.
Mercury is a toxin whose harmful effects on the human brain have been known for centuries. It is released in smoke when coal is burned. It settles on the land and water where tiny organisms convert it to methylmercury, a form that is absorbed by humans and other animals.
It is especially prevalent in fish, and a DNR guide recommends that some species in some lakes and rivers should not be eaten because of mercury and other toxins.
The NRDC said that in 62% of the Great Lakes and inland lake areas where fish were tested for mercury, six popular species were found to exceed recommended safe levels -- largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, muskellunge, walleye and lake trout.
A national study found that 5% of American women of childbearing age (16-49) had elevated levels of mercury in their bodies.
Those are significant numbers in a state such as Michigan, where 14% of residents fish, said Cindy Copeland, one of the report's authors.
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