Environmental Protection Agency senior management manipulated a rule aimed at limiting mercury pollution to favor the Bush administration's pro-industry "Clear Skies" initiative, the agency's inspector general said in a report on Thursday.

The report said scientists were given a pre-determined pollution limit and then told to work backwards. The goal was to show that coal-fired power plants could comply with the Bush initiative without having to install costly pollution-fighting equipment, the report said.

EPA officials and the industry disputed the report. They said the inspector general doesn't have the expertise necessary to understand the process. Mercury is a byproduct by coal-burning power plants that poses a number of health risks, especially on young children and pregnant women.

The Clear Skies initiative has been stalled in Congress. It is based on a "cap-and-trade" system whereby the entire industry has to meet a pollution standard rather than individual power plants.

Get the Story:
EPA Inspector Finds Mercury Proposal Tainted (The Washington Post 2/4)
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E.P.A. Accused of a Predetermined Finding on Mercury (The New York Times 2/4)
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Get the Report:
Additional Analyses of Mercury Emissions Needed Before EPA Finalizes Rules for Coal-Fired Electric Utilities | Inspector General Statement

Relevant Links:
Inspector General, EPA - http://www.epa.gov/oigearth

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