The 2006 Illinois PIRG report, [http://www.environmentillinois.org/reports/clean-water/clean-water-program-reports/risky-fishing-power-plant-mercury-pollution-and-illinois-sport-fish "Risky Fishing: Power Plant Mercury Pollution and Illinois Sport Fish"] looks at tissue mercury concentrations of 804 fish samples from the Illinois Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program (IFCMP) and 23 fish samples from U.S. EPA’s National Lake Fish Tissue Study (NLFTS). The report found that 39% of Illinois fish samples exceeded the 0.13 ppm safe mercury limit for women of average weight who eat fish twice per week, while 59% of the fish samples exceeded the safe mercury limit for children of average weight under age three who eat fish twice a week; 50 percent of fish samples exceeded the safe limit for children ages three to five years; and 34 percent of samples exceeded the safe limit for children ages six to eight years.
A third of all mercury released in Illinois - 2,283 pounds - came from six grandfathered plants owned by [[Midwest Generation]], according to 2002 state EPA data. <ref>[http://www.environmentillinois.org/reports/clean-water/clean-water-program-reports/risky-fishing-power-plant-mercury-pollution-and-illinois-sport-fish "Risky Fishing: Power Plant Mercury Pollution and Illinois Sport Fish"] Illinois PIRG report, 2006.</ref> In 2006, the company made an agreement with the state to begin lowering mercury emissions.<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Midwest+Generation,+Governor+Agree+On+Long-Range+Emissions+Reduction...-a0155781203 "Midwest Generation, Governor Agree On Long-Range Emissions Reduction Plan"] BusinessWire, 2008.</ref>
==EPA releases list of 44 "high hazard" coal ash dumps==