New EPA Mercury Rule Omits Conflicting Data (washingtonpost.com)

By Shankar Vedantam Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, March 22, 2005; Page A01 washingtonpost.com

FULL STORY: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55268-2005Mar21.html#

Study Called Stricter Limits Cost-Effective

When the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a rule last week to limit mercury emissions from U.S. power plants, officials emphasized that the controls could not be more aggressive because the cost to industry already far exceeded the public health payoff.

What they did not reveal is that a Harvard University study paid for by the EPA, co-authored by an EPA scientist and peer-reviewed by two other EPA scientists had reached the opposite conclusion.

That analysis estimated health benefits 100 times as great as the EPA did, but top agency officials ordered the finding stripped from public documents, said a staff member who helped develop the rule. Acknowledging the Harvard study would have forced the agency to consider more stringent controls, said environmentalists and the study's author.

FULL STORY: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55268-2005Mar21.html#

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