Alexandrians have long protested the GenOn coal-fired power plant in North Old Town and on Thursday 40 people made a statement by having their bodies tested for mercury levels at the BellaWest hair salon, which is a mile from the plant.

“They say the only way to get mercury inside of you is by eating fish. I’ve been eating fish all of my life and I want to see if its affected me,” said Mike Harley of Lorton, who has fished on the Potomac for 33 years. “Business has been slow. There are plenty of fish, but people are buying less. Everything that goes into the air ends up in the water and we consume it. Our water is bad enough now and we don’t need more chemicals to make it worse.”

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants from coal and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units. “Today’s announcement is 20 years in the making,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson upon releasing the proposal. “With the help of existing technologies, we will be able to take reasonable steps that will provide dramatic protections to our children and loved ones, preventing premature deaths, heart attacks, and asthma attacks.”

The Sierra Club, which is hosting 20 similar events near coal-fired plants around the country, sponsored the BellaWest testing event. The club’s website depicts 491 coal-fired plants as skull and cross bones scattered across a map of the United States and it recently opened an office in Alexandria's Del Ray neighborhood to target closing of the plant.

The GenOn plant is situated along the Potomac River and generates power for 480,000 homes in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. It also produces emissions that pollute the environment, contaminate fish and put certain portions of the population at risk, according to the Sierra Club. On early Wednesday morning a sulfuric acid tank at the plant leaked 1,300 gallons and took three hours to clean. No one was injured.

But how much mercury is the GenOn plant producing?

“We found the levels of mercury were 6,000 times lower than the minimal risk level,” said Vivi Abrams, spokesperson for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “The level found is far below levels at which we would expect to see health effects.” 

Last month, the ATSDR published a health consultation report on ambient air monitoring data at the plant. “With two exceptions, every metal measured in the air samples was below levels of potential health concern,” the report said. Arsenic and chromium were found at levels that could present a slight to low increase in the estimated risk for developing cancer. The arsenic and chromium levels observed were consistent with those routinely observed in suburban and urban locations nationwide and likely reflect contributions from many emissions sources.”

But eating fish is still healthy, right? “There are definite benefits of eating fish. The Omega 3 fatty acids are beneficial to pregnant women and the prevention of heart disease,” said Dr. Robert Gupta, a hospitalist at INOVA Fairfax Hospital. “But that has to be weighed by the levels of toxicity in the water.”

The EPA will hold three public hearings on proposed rules in May.