US rolls out historic mercury limits for power plants "The
dirty, soot-spewing coal plant will soon become a relic of the
past - a dirty industrial dinosaur," - Frank O'Donnell,
president of the watchdog group Clean Air Watch Unveiling a
historic rule, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday
announced the first national requirement for the nation's coal-
fired power plants to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic,
cyanide and other toxic pollutants. The landmark ruling took
more than 20 years for the EPA to finish. Under the Clean Air
Act, many other sources of air pollution have been cleaned up,
but power plants were so important to the economy that they long
had a pass. About 60 percent of the nation's plants, however,
already comply with the new requirement because of state rules.
The remaining 40 percent are a major source of pollution,
producing more than half the mercury emissions in the country,
the EPA said. The ruling will require coal-fired power plants to
add pollution-control equipment or c