Toxic air continues to kill in Kentucky
Kentucky has the fourth-most toxic air among states, a newly released report found.
Toxic Power: How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air and States found that 77% of the toxins overall and 89% of mercury emissions in Kentucky air come from coal-burning power plants. The analysis was jointly released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and based on self-reported data from the polluters.
Despite the poisoning of Kentucky air by the coal and utility industries, last week Rep. Ed Whitfield was successful in winning committee approval for his legislation to block for at least a year the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics standard, designed to protect public health.
Exposure to toxic pollution from power plants, including hydrochloric acid, fine particulates, mercury and other metals, is known or believed to contribute to or exacerbate a wide variety of health conditions, the report reminds us, including one or more of the following:
- Asthma and other respiratory ailments,
- Developmental disorders,
- Neurological damage,
- Birth defects,
- Cancer, and
- Premature mortality.
The NRDC / PSR report is consistent with a number of other studies, including one released in March by the American Lung Association that concluded, "Particle pollution from power plants is estimated to kill approximately 13,000 people a year.â€
See: "Toxic Air: The Case For Cleaning Up Coal-Fired Power Plants,â€
Source: Toxic Power: How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air and States, NRDC, 2011
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