Georgia is considering some of the Southeast's toughest mercury guidelines. The goal is to reduce mercury emissions into Georgia’s waterways. The state Board of Natural Resources is considering a plan to require Georgia Power to install new pollution controls at six of its 10 coal-burning power plants. The plants emit thousands of pounds of mercury each year into the water, which gets into fish, which in turn can contaminate the people eating them. The federal government estimates some 20,000 Georgians are born each year with high mercury levels, which studies have linked to developmental delays, blindness and even death.
