June 5, 2004

St. Louis stop #2

Route 66 State Park in Southwest County

On a beautiful Saturday morning, Colleen and I headed out to Route 66 State Park, where we were met by a number of local Sierra Club members and leaders, including the Eastern Missouri Group’s conservation committee chair.

Route 66 State Park is situated on the Meramec River. This stream is very popular all year round with people who like to hike, canoe, camp, and fish. But eating locally caught fish has become a worry in recent years because of high mercury levels. The departments of health in both Missouri and Illinois have issued mercury-in-fish advisories on ALL bodies of waters in our states.

Methyl mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin that can cause severe learning and developmental problems in the developing fetus, babies, and young children. The largest source of mercury in the environment is coal-burning power plants and industrial sources of air pollution. Mercury in the air returns to earth with rain, contaminating surface water and the fish that live in our streams and lakes. It only takes a fraction of a teaspoon to contaminate a 25-acre lake! Pregnant and nursing mothers, babies and young children are at highest risk of health problems, but FDA advisories were recently expanded to include all women of childbearing years who may become pregnant, because 1 in 6 women already has elevated levels of mercury in her body. We need strong regulations that will reduce this serious health risk to our communities.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration’s proposed rule to regulate mercury emissions from power plants would actually let the oldest, dirtiest sites avoid cleanup by purchasing pollution credits from more modern plants. The administration’s mercury proposal delays the timeframe to install pollution controls by a decade. EPA had asserted that 90% of mercury from power plants can be removed, yet the Bush administration is pushing for industry-friendly rules that fall far short of what’s needed to clean up our environment and protect our children’s health. That’s not evolution! We need to tell the Bush administration to support strong mercury regulations that protect our communities.

From here, I will be taking Route 66 all the way across Missouri, southeast Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Texas panhandle to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Whew! Thanks so much to all those who came out to wish us a successful continuation of this exciting journey.

Stay tuned for updates from Springfield, MO and Joplin!

-- Jill Miller