Ohio’s 26 coal burning power plants emit tons of mercury in the waters around the Great Lakes, threatening the people and wild life while state and federal environmental organizations continue to look the other way. That’s the thrust of a National Wildlife Federation report from their Great Lakes Resource Center called "Ohio’s Mercury Menace."

According to an EPA report, power plants are responsible for increasing mercury emissions nation wide. Mercury, which occurs naturally in coal, is a highly toxic substance that is especially dangerous to unborn children. Fetal exposure can harm the brain and nervous system, causing irreparable problems with attention, learning and language development.

One drop of mercury can contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point that fish are unsafe to eat. A single, one-hundred megawatt coal burning power plant emits about 48 pounds of mercury every year into the atmosphere. Because Ohio generates 90% of its electricity by burning coal, its power plants spew as much as four times more mercury into the air that those of other Great Lakes states. The report highlights the concern that coal-burning power plants are not required to control mercury emissions. Ohio’s newly adopted rules under the Great Lakes Quality Initiative requires industries to meet tight new standards for mercury discharged into water, but power plants continue to escape smoke stack regulation.