INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana will cut mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by two-thirds over the next two decades under a federal rule approved by a state panel that turned aside calls for even deeper cuts.

The Indiana Air Pollution Control Board voted 11-1 Wednesday to adopt the minimum federal Clean Air Mercury Rule.

Environmentalists have said the reduction goal falls short because mercury is a potent neurotoxin that ends up in the food chain and can lower the intelligence of children whose mothers eat tainted fish during pregnancy.

But utility officials say the timeline — the same one agreed to by about half of all states — will cut emissions while keeping electricity rates low in the state.

The rule requires a 66 percent cut in Indiana’s mercury emissions by 2018. However, the state won’t actually meet that goal until 2025 because of a provision that allows plants that stay below their mercury cap to bank or sell emission credits to plants exceeding their cap.

The Hoosier Environmental Council had pushed for a plan that would have reduced mercury emissions by 90 percent by 2010. Representatives of the utility industry argued that doing so would lead to big rate hikes for consumers.

Janet McCabe, executive director of Improving Kids’ Environment, said a compromise proposal by her nonprofit group did not succeed because of opposition from the administration.

“I feel the board is not living up to its responsibility,” she said. “You have the ability to make a difference in the lives of children.”

Environmentalists have said swifter action is needed considering the amount of mercury released in the state. In 2005, it came to 6,435 pounds, or more than 3 tons.

Indiana is the nation’s fourth-largest mercury emitter, with 23 coal-fired power plants that spew the chemical into the air from smoke that billows from their smokestacks. The state derives 95 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants.

Mercury, which occurs naturally in coal, enters the food chain through precipitation that has helped lace Indiana’s waterways with mercury. It then shows up in fish, leading to statewide advisories against consuming certain fish.

Posted 10/4/2007