An unfortunate truth is that coal fired power plants pollute the air, land, and water around them. It’s especially unfortunate because there are a lot of coal plants that are doing this all over the world.
However, some of the coal plants are leaking airborne mercury into atmosphere in the North American Great Lakes region, which is much worse. In a report titled Poisoning the Great Lakes: Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants In the Great Lakes Region, the NRDC has put together a list of the 25 coal-fired power plants that are the most responsible (out of the total 144) for polluting the Great Lakes region, and accounting for 50% of the mercury found in the area. Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana are found to be affected the worst.
Take a look at the list below to see if any of the worst mercury polluters are in your area, and if so contact your local representative to put an end to this pollution.
- Shawville (Clearfield Cty, PA)
- Monroe (Monroe Cty, MI)
- Homer City (Indiana Cty, PA)
- Cardinal (Jefferson Cty, OH)
- Sherburne County (Sherburne Cty, MN)
- Muskingum River (Washington Cty, OH)
- Hatfield’s Ferry (Fayette Cty, PA)
- Walter C Beckjord (Clermont Cty, OH)
- Wabash River (Vigo Cty, IN)
- Newton (Jasper Cty, IL)
- Pleasant Prairie (Kenosha Cty, WI)
- Belle River (St. Clair Cty, MI)
- Clifty Creek (Jefferson Cty, IN)
- Columbia (Columbia Cty, WI)
- St Clair (St Clair Cty, MI)
- Rockport (Spencer Cty, IN)
- Gavin (Gallia Cty, OH)
- Bruce Mansfield (Beaver Cty, PA)
- South Oak Creek (Milwaukee Cty, WI)
- Kyger Creek (Gallia Cty, OH)
- State Line (Lake Cty, IN)
- J M Stuart (Brown Cty, OH)
- Tanners Creek (Dearborn Cty, IN)
- Boswell (Itasca Cty, MN)
- Joppa Steam (Massac Cty, IL)
