Study: Md. trash-burning power plants pollute more than coal

Maryland’s two major trash-burning power plants produce more pollution than the state’s four largest coal-fired plants, according to a new study. Maryland’s trash-burning plants — which the state considers sources of renewable energy — generated up to five times the amount of mercury and up to 18 times the amount of lead than its coal-fired plants between 2007 and 2009, according to the study by the Environmental Integrity Project, an anti-pollution nonprofit.