The Honorable Carol Browner
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator Browner:

We are writing to urge that the Environmental Protection Agency's mercury study, completed several months ago, be submitted to the Congress with no further delay.

Mercury is a heavy metal that poses serious threats to both public health and the environment. All but a handful of states have issued public health advisories recommending that intake of fish and seafood be limited because of mercury contamination. The Food and Drug Administration has likewise established limits for mercury consumption, and many bodies of freshwater in the United States are contaminated with the metal.

There are numerous sources of mercury, ranging from powerplants to municipal waste incinerators. Some products also contribute significantly to mercury pollution. These include batteries as well as fluorescent and high intensity discharge lamps.

Because of widespread public and Congressional concern over the impacts of mercury, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments required the Agency to conduct a study of mercury and submit that study to the Congress. In accordance with the amendments, we understand that your Agency has completed a seven-volume, 1700-page study that has been peer-reviewed both internally and externally. However, instead of submitting this study to Congress, the Agency has forwarded it to the Science Advisory Board (SAB) for review because "new studies are expected to be published over the next two years." SAB review will likely delay the report until 1999 and possibly into the next century. During this time, the threats to public health and the environment will be unabated. According to the Agency's own estimates contained in the study, between 80,000 and 85,000 pregnant women are exposed to mercury levels high enough to produce risk to their children.

New studies can be dealt with when and if they are published, at which time they can be given the weight and consideration appropriate to their findings and quality. In the meantime, the study mandated by Congress has been completed and peer-reviewed, and should be submitted without further delay.

Sincerely,

PATRICK LEAHY
United States Senator

Cosigned by Senators Chafee, Jeffords, Wellstone, Mikulski, Feingold, Moseley-Braun, Feinstein, Sarbanes, Dodd, Levin, Pell, Biden, Grams, Boxer, Lieberman, D'Amato, Graham, Bradley, Kohl, and Moynihan