The Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says despite criticism from some environmentalists, the federal government is trying to cut mercury emissions from power plants. Mike Leavitt was in Des Moines Monday, and says he’ll become the first E-P-A administrator in history to regulate mercury emissions from power plants, and he says they’re working very hard right now to make sure they’re choosing the right technology and right order, and he says that will likely happen next year. Leavitt says there’s been progress already in cutting some mercury. He says we’re down 44-percent on mercury emissions over a decade ago. He says most of that comes from regulating the mercury that comes from municipal waste, and now they’ll do power plants. Mercury from power plants has raised concern because it get into water and then fish, and can be a health hazard for children and pregnant women.
