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For Immediate Release
August 3, 2005
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Senator Mary Jo
White, Representative William F. Adolph, Jr. &
Senator Raphael J. Musto today issued the following
statement regarding state regulation of mercury
emissions:
"We continue to believe that it is
counter-productive for the Commonwealth to craft its
own mercury emission rule at this time. The
specific concerns we share were outlined in our July
27, 2005 letter to Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty,
chairperson of the Environmental Quality Board. We
again urge the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) to reconsider its plan for a
mercury emission rule that exceeds federal
standards, is the subject of current litigation, and
places Pennsylvania at a competitive disadvantage
with other states without a commensurate or
measurable environmental or health improvement.
Additionally, any state action must be consistent
with the provisions of the Pennsylvania Air
Pollution Control Act and Executive Order 1996-1.
"The statement released by Citizen's for
Pennsylvania's Future asserting that we have urged
DEP to 'take no action to protect the health of
Pennsylvanians from toxic mercury' is absolutely
false. We are supportive of the federal standard to
the extent that it will reduce mercury emissions by
70%. Furthermore, we have not discouraged DEP from
pursuing its current litigation if the result will
better position Pennsylvania – both environmentally
and economically – to implement a national mercury
reduction rule.
(Sen. White
and Representative Adolph serve as the chairs of the
Senate and House Environmental Resources & Energy
Committees; Sen. Musto serves as Democratic chair of
the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy
Committee.)
Contact:
Patrick Henderson
(Sen. White)
787-9684
Joe Deklinski
(Rep. Adolph)
783-4707
Richard Fox
(Sen. Musto)
787-7105
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