The brain-harming metal is discharged directly into the river or carried to it on air currents. Some argue authorities are doing too little to stop both routes of pollution.
An Obama-era rule has already reduced toxic air pollution like mercury from coal-fired power plants. So why did the EPA roll it back now? In a word, co-benefits.
The roughly 6,900 toxic-containing wastewater discharges along the Ohio River are mapped out, including how much they spew annually. But public records only tell part of the story.
For decades, much of the Ohio River was used as an industrial sewer. And that long legacy of pollution is still being felt all along the river's near-thousand-mile course.
