GROUP: REDUCE LIMIT AT LAFARGE MERCURY LIMIT AT LAFARGE PLANT.(Capital Region)

RAVENA -- A citizens group formed to cut pollution from the Lafarge cement plant said a proposed first-ever state limit on mercury should be cut by more than half.

Comments filed with the state Department of Environmental Conservation by the group Community Advocates for Safe Emissions also called for continuous mercury emissions testing on the plant's smokestack, which is along Route 9W across from the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk middle and high schools.

Under a proposed air pollution permit being considered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Lafarge could emit up to 176 pounds of mercury a year.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that …