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Acid rain eats away
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Acid rain eats away at Northeast
By Environmental News Network Staff
Acid rain continues to plague the northeastern United States, and legislation enacted in
1990 has done little to remedy the situation, according to a recent report by the federal
General Accounting Office.
"This report provides fresh and credible evidence that acid rain continues to damage ecosystems
in Vermont and throughout the Northeast," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont).
"If we do not act soon to aggressively crack down on acid rain, the region's economy and
public health will be endangered beyond repair. We need to update our Clean Air laws with
comprehensive national legislation that forces antiquated power plants to either
modernize or shut down," said Leahy.
Leahy and Rep. John Sweeney (R-New York) asked the GAO – Congress' nonpartisan
watchdog agency – to analyze acid rain trends in the Northeast to determine whether the
1990 update to the landmark Clean Air Act successfully curbed sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxide emissions.
When released into the atmosphere, these chemical compounds constitute two of the
primary causes of acid rain. The GAO report found that progress had been made in
reducing sulfur dioxide emissions, but emissions from nitrogen oxides remain essentially
unchanged.
"Acid rain is having a tremendously damaging effect on the Northeast, and this report
details just how dire the situation really is," said Sweeney. "The Adirondack Park is dying
faster than the EPA predicted and is actually losing its ability to buffer acid rain. EPA's
worst-case scenario now appears to be the likely outcome."
Acid rain pollutes watersheds, creating highly acidified and nitrate-laden lakes where fish
are unable to survive. Acidified soil is stripped of necessary nutrients that help plants
survive cold temperatures.
A recent environmental conference at the University of Vermont revealed how vulnerable
the state's syrup-producing maple trees are to acid rain. And Leahy cited another recent
report detailing the declining air quality of America's national parks as evidence of acid
rain's destructive effect.
Total sulfur dioxide emissions declined 17 percent from 1990 through 1998, but total
emissions of nitrogen oxides changed little during the same time period, according to the
GAO report, "Acid Rain: Emissions Trends and Effects in the Eastern United States." In
the eastern states, total deposition of sulfur decreased 26 percent from 1989 through
1998, while total deposition of nitrogen increased 2 percent, according to the report.
Nitrates also increased in 48 percent of the lakes sampled in the Adirondacks, a sensitive
ecosystem that is protected under the Clean Air Act.
Leahy believes the GAO report will provide the impetus for more stringent national
regulation of all nitrogen oxide sources. He also hopes GAO's findings will provide
momentum for his "Clean Power Plant and Modernization Act of 1999," legislation
introduced last year that would force 1950s-era power plants to modernize their
operations.
Articles published April 3, 2000 and reproduced by kind permission of the Environmental
News Network
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