When the Environmental Protection Agency holds a public hearing it can usually expect mind-numbing speeches from lawyers, bureaucrats, and scientists. But last January 24, in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, the agency got more than it expected, from a group of people demanding action to protect them and their children from the ravages of cement kilns and other industrial facilities.

Alexandra Allred, a marathoner and one-time Olympic bobsledder, came all the way from Midlothian, Texas, to tell her story. She and her husband had moved to Texas with dreams of riding horses and raising kids on a ranch. The plumes of innocuous-looking white smoke rising from nearby factories didn't worry them. At first. Until their son, Tommy, developed trouble breathing. Pretty soon they got the bad news: Tommy has asthma, brought on by breathing poisoned air emitted by nearby cement kilns and other facilities. At best, the Allreds' lives are full of inhalers and plastic hoses and medicines. When things are bad, Tommy, age five, is hooked up to a breathing machine. Keeping Tommy alive is the family's number-one job.

EPA's reason for existing is to protect the public from such hazards, but the agency has evaded that responsibility for years. The January hearing was called to allow the public to weigh in on the latest set of regulations proposed by EPA. The public was not happy. After years of litigation, the agency was still refusing to regulate mercury emissions from cement kilns -- a major source of this most damaging element -- and was proposing utterly inadequate regulations to control dioxins, hydrogen chloride, particulates, and hydrocarbons. Alex Allred's testimony left the audience crying. Even some jaded EPA employees brushed away tears. But it takes more than emotional appeals to sway the agency.

This March, the agency agreed to reevaluate its rule and consider setting mercury emission standards. Now is the time to tell EPA that cleaner air and mercury reductions are important for every American. We need to protect public health and the environment; there are technologies that can reduce mercury pollution from cement plants effectively and cheaply, and it’s time to use them!

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