Maine to Sue EPA Over Mercury Emissions

Maine will join at least eight other states in a lawsuit calling for more aggressive restrictions on coal-fired power plants - considered the nation's largest source of mercury pollution and the primary reason Maine's lakes and freshwater fish are contaminated. The lawsuit will be filed in the next week or two, said Assistant Attorney General Jerry Reid.Although a lawsuit pitting the state against the Bush administration is unfortunate, he said, "it's also necessary under these circumstances."

"The rule is carefully crafted to allow the industry to avoid installing new technology" to cut mercury pollution, Reid said.Maine will be especially hurt by the rules, critics say, because the state is downwind of aging power plants to the south and west. Maine already advises that pregnant women and children not eat freshwater fish from the state's waterways, and is considered to have some of the most severely contaminated wildlife in the country. Link