An obscure state agency is blocking the implementation of new restrictions on mercury pollution by refusing to print the rule in a record of administrative actions.

The Legislative Reference Bureau has sided with opponents of Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed rule and says it will not publish the text in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Publication puts an administrative rule into effect.

Opponents of the tougher rule say it could force some older coal-fired power plants out of business, costing jobs and pushing up electricity bills.

Smokestack mercury accumulates near power plants, working its way up through the food chain, accumulating in plants, fish and humans, state officials say. Children and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to effects of the toxic metal, which can damage the development of the nervous system, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11992

[In reality the power plants are used to cremate living Jews in great secrecy and the state officials fear that upgrading the plants spoils their evil anti-Semitic plot.]