![]() The pollution comes from power-plant smokestacks and vehicle exhaust blown toward the refuge from miles away. ![]() Of the 156 wilderness areas that Congress voted to protect under the Clean Air Act in the late 1970s, Mingo is one of the haziest, according to federal records. More than 130,000 people flock to the refuge each year, but dirty air often hangs over the swamp, as it does in better-known wilderness areas like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon that are supposed to share the same protection from air pollution. The Mississippi River meandered through the area until an earthquake along the New Madrid Fault 18,000 years ago shifted the muddy channel about 60 miles east. ![]() But they stopped short of urging its use, opting instead to suggest that the coal company could take less dramatic steps to limit haze-forming pollution.Īccording to a study by the Fish and Wildlife Service's air quality office, the difference would be felt at the Mingo refuge, the last large patch of hardwood swamp left from what once spread over 2.5 million acres in southeastern Missouri.ĭesignated as a national wildlife refuge in the mid-1940s, Mingo reflects the mix of biology and geology where the Ozark Plateau meets Southern bottomlands and Northern hardwood forests. "Why build a cleaner plant if your competitor can use inferior technology, release vastly more pollution and have an adverse impact on a national wildlife refuge?" he said.įederal scientists say they likely wouldn't have a problem with the Peabody plant if it was built with the cleaner technology. Thompson said the state's decision to give Peabody a permit sets a bad precedent.
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