Good News on Mercury
Click here for a printable version as it appeared on the Belleville News Democrat website.
YOUR recent article on mercury emissions in Illinois buried the lead ("Coal-fired plants blamed for rise in pollution in Illinois last year," Dec. 29).
Illinois companies such as Midwest Generation, Dynegy, Prairie State and others are spending billions of dollars to meet and exceed federal and state rules and regulations on emissions, including mercury emissions. The results of this investment put Illinois ahead of most other states in the effort to decrease mercury emissions.
Though you mentioned the Prairie State plant being built in Washington County, it wasn't clear to your readers that the new facility will meet the new Illinois mercury emission standards -- some of the strictest in the country -- when it begins operating in 2011.
I believe an article revealing more details on these investments and activities would have been more helpful to your readers -- especially now that the upgrades in the Midwest Generation and Dynegy plants will keep electricity flowing and result in mercury emission reductions as high as 80 to 90 percent; and the new Prairie State facility will have a minimum mercury emissions reduction requirement of 90 percent.
The article was focused on the past; instead, we should all be looking forward to future successes and what companies are doing to make them happen.
Tom Wolf
Executive director Energy Council, Illinois Chamber of Commerce Chicago
Published by the Belleville News Democrat
January 13, 2010
Click here to visit the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Energy Council Blog.
