COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A commission monitoring pollution in the Ohio River says testing for mercury released into the water will be determined on a state-by-state basis, instead of a comprehensive plan.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the multistate Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission decided Thursday that states along the waterway will decide where and how companies do testing to gauge discharged mercury.

The commission says that won’t increase levels of the neurotoxin in the river, but some environmental advocates disagree.

Mercury has been pumped into the water for years from steel factories, power plants and other sources and can make fish unsafe to eat. The amounts of mercury released are subject to regulatory limits based on tests by the companies, which sometimes do their testing in areas where pollution can be diluted.

 

 

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