Environment agency scraps limits on mercury from US coal power plants

By Rebecca Trager2020-04-22T13:30:00

An image showing PacifiCorp's Hunter coal fired power pant releases steam as it burns coal outside of Castle Dale, Utah

Source: © George Frey/AFP/Getty Images

Public health benefits of restricting emissions of the heavy metal will no longer be taken into account

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final rule that concludes it is not ‘appropriate and necessary’ to regulate mercury pollution from coal fired power plants. The agency will no longer consider public health benefits associated with reducing mercury emissions.