Fish tainted with mercury

Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

A federal study released Wednesday offered a sobering view on how pollution taints our nation. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey took samples of fish from 291 streams across America from 1998 to 2005. They found mercury in every sample.

The most tainted sample came from a smallmouth bass taken from the Carson River near Dayton in Northern Nevada. The river was polluted by mercury from years of gold mining, and the Environmental Protection Agency has been cleaning it up as a Superfund site.

The report notes that there were toxic levels of mercury in a quarter of the fish sampled nationwide.

Nearly every state has a warning about eating certain types of wild fish more than twice a week because of concerns about mercury poisoning, but this report raises a larger concern. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar correctly said the report “sends a clear message that our country must continue to confront pollution, restore our nation’s waterways and protect the public from potential health dangers.”

Mercury is a dangerous toxin that can cause neurological problems in humans, especially in infants and fetuses, and mercury pollution is widespread. Coal-fired power plants, concrete plants and trash burning are common sources of mercury emissions.

Reducing mercury emissions will be difficult. Industry groups have fought proposed regulatory changes that would limit the amount of mercury and other toxins released into the air.

The Bush administration crafted regulations that were friendly to industry, allowing high levels of pollution. Those regulations were thankfully tossed out this year by a federal appeals court. The Obama administration says it plans to draft tougher rules to limit the amount of mercury.

That is good news. The EPA is also planning to enact new rules to limit the amount of mercury emitted from cement plants.

Congress and the public should support those measures. This is a matter of protecting the public’s health.