By: Rachel Meyer, Ohio River Valley Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: July 10, 2025
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0794-6978
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Rachel Meyer, and I am the Ohio River Valley Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. I live in Independence Township in Pennsylvania. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I strongly oppose EPA’s proposal to repeal recent updates to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which protect children from negative developmental impacts associated with mercury and other heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, and chromium.
Mercury from coal-fired power plants is released into the air, falls into waterways, and accumulates in fish that families eat. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can cause permanent damage to the brains of babies and fetuses, leading to developmental delays, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and birth defects. As an elementary school teacher for many years, I am deeply committed to children’s learning and dream of the day when mercury exposure due to burning coal in power plants will no longer factor into a child's cognitive development.
On a personal note, while pregnant, I scrutinized everything that I ate. I felt the enormous responsibility of how my actions would affect my child’s future. I wished that I could freely eat fish for the key nutrients it provides for brain development, but due to mercury pollution, I knew I had to carefully monitor the type and amount of fish that I ate. It all still felt risky and stressful. Strong mercury safeguards are crucial in order to protect the health of families across the country, especially those communities that rely on fish for a primary food source. We know that mercury protections can have significant public health benefits for young children.
In addition to lowering mercury and providing critical benefits for children’s development, EPA’s strengthened Mercury and Air Toxics Standards increase protections from other toxic heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, and chromium, which are known to increase significant negative health impacts including fatal heart attacks, cancer, and developmental delays in children. Health-harming air pollutants, including fine particle pollution, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide are also being reduced.
We must keep mercury and other toxics from spewing out of coal-fired power plants and ending up in our air, water, soil, and food. Please uphold the strongest Mercury and Air Toxic Standards—our children’s health must be protected. Thank you.