Objection over rule

on march 29, 2005, nine us states sued the federal government against the us environmental protection agency's (epa's) recently announced mercury emission cut regulation for coal-fired power plants (see Down To Earth, 'Averse to clear skies', April 15, 2005, p 10). They say the new regulation weakens the Clean Air Act and won't protect children and pregnant women from the dangers of mercury emission.

New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York and Vermont filed the lawsuit at the Washington dc federal court. They allege the plan allows utilities not to do anything specific to control emissions till 2010. " epa's emissions trading plan will allow some power plants to actually increase mercury emissions, creating hot spots of mercury deposition," said Attorney General Peter Harvey of New Jersey, lead petitioner. epa spokesperson Cynthia Bergman advises women to follow the government's dietary guidelines and limit eating certain types of fish to guard themselves against mercury.