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A report by the group PennEnvironment says the emissions are a threat to public health and the environment, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Wednesday.

PennEnvironment's report uses 2009 federal data ranking power plants that emit the most mercury and details the severe and long-lasting health impacts of exposures to children and adults, the newspaper said.

The Keystone coal-fired power plant in Shelocta, Pa., is the second-biggest mercury emitter in the nation, the group says, and the Conemaugh power plant in southern Indiana County ranks fourth.

"Powering our homes should not poison Pennsylvania's kids", Erika Staaf, clean water advocate for PennEnvironment, said. "Mercury pollution from power plants puts our kids and our environment at risk, and we need the Environmental Protection Agency to force these facilities to clean up.

"We might not be the 'tailpipe of the nation' like New England states, but we're right in the middle of all that mercury pollution", Staaf said. "We're not only catching it from Pennsylvania utilities but also from all those other high-ranking states."

The report's release was timed to support the EPA's new standards to limit mercury and other toxic air pollutants, expected in March, proposals that are strongly opposed by the coal and utility industries, the Post-Gazette said.

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