Virginia Congressmen Vote to Block Public Health Protections

(Washington, D.C. – February 18, 2011) The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to use a budget bill to block clean air protections.

The vote was on an amendment to the Continuing Resolution (HR 1). The amendment, which passed Thursday night, would block all funding for enforcement of limits on mercury and other toxic pollution from cement plants. Mercury pollution causes brain damage in children.
Voting for higher levels of mercury in our air and water were Virginia Representatives Rob Wittman (R-VA-1), Scott Rigell (R-VA-2), Randy Forbes (R-VA-4) Robert Hurt (R-VA-5), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA-6), Eric Cantor (R-VA-7), and Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9).

“These congressmen are voting for more toxic mercury in our air and water – and that puts our kids at risk,” said Steve Cochran of Environmental Defense Fund. “This will mean more mercury pollution from dirty plants around America will end up our air, water and food. Experts, not politicians, should be making decisions about air pollution.”

Mercury Contamination and the Dangers to Virginia Residents

The mercury we put into our air falls back to earth, contaminates our waters, and gets into our food supply; it’s dangerous enough that pregnant women are warned against eating tuna and other fish because of high mercury levels that could cause brain damage in their unborn babies. 1 in 4 women tested in Virginia had high enough levels of mercury to put a child at risk for neurological development problems, like delayed onset of walking and talking and mental retardation

Cement plants are the third largest source of manmade mercury emissions in the U.S. Virginia has one major cement plant.
• One-seventieth of one teaspoon of mercury is enough to contaminate a 20-acre lake and make the fish in it unsuitable for consumption.
• Each year, cement plants emit an estimated 16,000 lbs of mercury into the environment.
• Each year, an estimated 400,000 American newborn babies are exposed to unsafe levels of mercury.
• Enforcing the limits on toxic pollution from cement kilns would lower the amount of mercury they spew into the air by 92 percent, and save up to 2,500 lives each year.

While 7 Representatives from Virginia voted against reducing mercury emissions, the other four members of the Virginia delegation voted for cleaner air and safer, healthier kids: Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA-3), Jim Moran (D-VA-8), Frank Wolf (R-VA-10) and Gerry Connelly (D-VA-11).

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Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. See twitter.com/EnvDefenseFund; facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund