EPA says acid rain control could run $6 billion a year

An extensive acid rain control program could cost the United States up to $6 billion a year, and there is no proof that coal-burning industries cause most of the pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency said.

EPA head Anne M. Gorsuch said recent studies have raised doubts that coal-burning industries of the Midwest are the chief source of acid rain, which pollutes waters of the Northeast and Canada.

Scientists, environmentalists, and the Canadian government claim acid rain comes from tall smokestack emissions which are carried long distances before being washed out of the air in rain or snow.