Join the Sierra Club on Saturday, October 2nd as we rally in downtown Des
Moines to educate Iowans about mercury pollution!

We will have a short press conference at 11:00 am followed by a "walk
backwards" to show how the Bush administration is taking us backwards when
it comes to protecting public health and the environment from mercury
pollution.

Meet us outside the Wallace Building, at 502 E. 9th Street in Des Moines at
11 am, on October 2nd, and demand that both local and national leaders
protect people, not polluters!

Background:
Despite the fact that Iowa ranks 16th in the nation for coal plant mercury
pollution, it is one of only five states that has never issued a mercury
advisory for locally caught fish, even for at-risk women and children. The
Iowa Department of Natural Resources has avoided issuing advisories by using
the FDA's outdated and unscientific advisory level, rather than the EPA's,
even though only the EPA's guidance has been approved by the National
Academy of Sciences as being protective of vulnerable populations.

As a result, Iowans that should be limiting their fish consumption are being
given no mercury guidance from the state, and have no idea that the levels
of mercury being detected in some Iowa fish are high enough to pose a
serious risk to the development of small children and growing fetuses.

And the Bush administration is making matters worse. Last December, the
administration was under a deadline to propose a plan to begin regulating
mercury pollution from coal power plants, the single largest source. The EPA
had planned to require a 90% reduction in emissions by 2008, but the Bush
administration turned its back on current science and technology by
proposing only 30% reductions by that time. This plan will also allow
utilities to trade emissions credits, which could create mercury "hot spots"
where some communities are at greater risk than others. Both aspects of the
administration's plan - ignoring the best available technology and allowing
pollution trading - violate the current Clean Air Act.

We can do better! Join us in asking the Iowa DNR to protect Iowans from the
Bush administration mercury plan, by issuing appropriate mercury advisories
and by joining a growing list of states in opposition to this backwards
proposal.

When: Saturday, October 2nd at 11:00 am
Where: Outside the Wallace Building, 502 E. 9th Street, Des Moines
What: Mercury "walk backwards" in opposition to the Bush administration's
backwards mercury plan

Hope to see you there!

Tarah Heinzen
Sierra Club Conservation Organizer
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
(515) 251-3995
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