The Honorable Donna Shalala
Secretary
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

and

The Honorable Carol Browner
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Dear Secretary Shalala and Administrator Browner:

We are writing regarding mercury contamination of lakes, rivers, streams and the threat that this poses to the health of Americans. This is a matter of pressing mutual concern to us as U.S. Senators from the state of Vermont.

At any given time, according to a draft report prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 80,000 pregnant women and their fetuses are potentially exposed to levels of mercury that could cause injury to their unborn children. There is excellent reason to believe that exposure of children in utero and during very early childhood to levels of mercury currently considered safe could cause serious and irreparable neuropsychological dysfunction in the areas of language, attention and memory.

Although this issue is becoming increasingly important, we are troubled by the lack of coordination between your two agencies. Mercury contamination has reached a point where agency coordination and cooperation is essential to protect the public health and the environment. A recent study done in the Faroe Islands showed that mercury causes serious and almost certainly irreparable damage to the nervous system of children even at low levels of exposure.

The delayed release of the mercury report and contradicting public health information is confusing the public, thwarting efforts of states to protect the health of their citizens and impeding development of programs that would reduce releases of mercury into the environment from electric utilities, waste disposal and other sources. For example, the Food and Drug Administration sought to delay the Congressionally-mandated mercury study and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released a draft toxicological profile for mercury which is being characterized as inconsistent with the conclusions contained in the Environmental Protection Agency's draft.

In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the Vice President issued a memorandum discussing this exact issue. He noted that because of pollution of American rivers, lakes and streams "the health of our people continues to be threatened (and) consumption of fish from many of our waters presents a threat to the most vulnerable among us." He instructed the heads of all Departments and Agencies to "develop cooperative approaches," and with specific regard to poisonous chemicals, "identify steps to reduce the need for fish consumption advisories, giving particular attention to toxics that affect fetal and childhood development."

With shared responsibility to oversee the activities of several agencies with regulatory or other responsibilities relating to mercury, we urge the two agencies to take the lead in implementing the Vice President's charge. As a first step, the release of the mercury report should launch a unified public awareness program to support prompt and effective reductions in emissions of and exposure to mercury. In addition, we would like you to consider revising the Community Right-to-Know reporting levels by coal-fired utilities on mercury emissions and other toxic releases. Finally, we encourage ATSDR to revise its toxicological profile to incorporate newly published findings and to expressly recommend a level protective of sensitive populations.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance.

Sincerely,

PATRICK LEAHY
United States Senator

Cosigned by Senator Jim Jeffords