By: Julie Kimmel, Project Manager for Member Cultivation, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: February 24, 2022
About: Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for Power Plants: Proposed Reaffirmation of the Appropriate and Necessary Finding, Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2018–0794
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Julie Kimmel and I am a project manager at Moms Clean Air Force. As you’ve heard, we are a community of more than 1.3 million parents united against air and climate pollution to protect our children’s health. Thank you for the opportunity to testify this afternoon.
I support this administration’s proposal to reinstate the appropriate and necessary finding of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. And I’m counting on EPA to take further steps to strengthen this important rule.
I live in Reston, Virginia, with my husband and seven-year-old daughter. All three of us were born in Virginia; our parents were born in Virginia. Like so many Chesapeake Bay families, we celebrate with fish and seafood. Fish is an important part of our diet and our lives.
I grew up on trout and catfish and tuna. My husband on crab and shrimp and rockfish. Separately and then together, we built traditions around fish and seafood. We host an annual crab feast for our family and friends in the summer. We celebrate birthdays with raw oysters. We plan elaborate meals around the week’s fresh catch when we’re down at the beach.
My daughter—who is one of the very few American seven-year-olds who refuses to eat hamburgers or pepperoni pizza or spaghetti or mac and cheese—has gobbled up every type of fish we’ve ever put in front of her. She can’t get enough.
Of course, we don’t offer fish to our little girl as often as she might like, and we limit our own consumption too. Because we know most mercury exposure happens through the consumption of fish. Our fish habits and traditions put my family at risk of experiencing health impacts from mercury. Health impacts like cancer, lung disease, cardiovascular problems, and in children, brain damage.
Mercury is especially dangerous for developing babies and children. It can cross the blood-brain and placental barriers after ingestion, leading to toxic effects on fetal and infant brains. When pregnant women eat contaminated fish, mercury can cause impaired motor function, learning impairments, and behavioral problems in their children.
A strong mercury rule is vital for protecting our families and our communities from this harmful pollution. Over the last 10 years, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards have helped slash mercury pollution by more than 80%. But coal-fired power plants continue to emit dangerous quantities of hazardous air pollution, and they continue to be the largest source of mercury pollution in the United States. This tells me the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards must be strengthened.
While my family eats a lot of fish (more than the average family, I’ve learned), we are not among the most impacted by mercury pollution. Indigenous communities and subsistence fishing communities that rely on fishing as a primary food source—for cultural identity or for economic reasons—can be disproportionately exposed to mercury pollution through their diet.
These communities, many of which are disproportionately impacted by all manner of air pollution too, should not have to bear the additional burden of mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. Their children, their livelihoods, their air and water should be protected.
So as a parent, I’m urging you to finalize this proposal to reinstate the appropriate and necessary finding of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. And then, please move forward with strengthening the mercury rule to help protect all families and communities from this harmful pollution. Thank you.