Report finds mercury emissions still high in U.S.

[Guest guest]

Report finds mercury emissions still high in U.S.

By Sandy Bauers

Inquirer Staff Writer

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/daily/20100318_Report_finds_mercur\

y_emissions_still_high_in_U_S_.html

Blaming delays by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the coal-fired

power industry, an environmental group yesterday said mercury emissions

nationally had declined by only a paltry amount - 7 percent - from 2000 to 2008.

In a report analyzing EPA emissions data by state and plant, the Environmental

Integrity Project showed that although Pennsylvania plants had done better -

mercury emissions fell 34 percent between 2000 and 2008 - the state still ranked

third in the nation in overall mercury emissions.

" Despite years of promises, the electric-power industry has barely made a dent

in its mercury emissions this decade, " EIP senior attorney Ilan Levin said. The

group is based in Washington.

Four Pennsylvania plants ranked among the worst 50 for total mercury emissions,

and two ranked among the worst for pounds of mercury emitted per gigawatt hour

of energy produced.

New Jersey ranked 43d among states with mercury emissions.

L. Biden, president of Pennsylvania's Electric Power Generation

Association, called the study " pointless and silly, " given that the state's five

largest plants that did not already have mercury-reduction equipment were

installing it. He predicted they would reduce emissions by 88 percent to 90

percent.

" It's almost like their only purpose is to get people angry about something, "

Biden said of the project, a nonprofit organization that several former EPA

enforcement lawyers established in 2002 to advocate for better enforcement of

environmental laws.

One plant that ranked high on EIP lists - Shawville in Clearfield County, owned

by RRI Energy - has had high emissions because it uses local coal, which company

spokeswoman Laurie Fickman said created jobs in the area.

She also said the plant had installed the latest technology to reduce mercury

emissions and would test it this year.

Jan Jarrett, president of the environmental group Citizens for Pennsylvania's

Future, which has pressured officials for better regulations, said the study

" clearly shows that we still have a problem with mercury pollution.

Mercury, which eventually falls into lakes and rivers and accumulates in the

food chain, is a neurotoxin that causes impaired development in fetuses and

children.

Several years ago, Pennsylvania instituted a requirement that would have reduced

mercury from coal-fired power plants by 90 percent by 2015, Jarrett said. It was

overturned in court.

Likewise, the EPA under President W. Bush passed regulations that Biden

said would have required Pennsylvania plants to reduce mercury emissions by 64

percent this year.

That, too, was struck down in court. Environmentalists said it was too weak and

violated the intent of the Clean Air Act.

An EPA spokeswoman said controlling mercury emissions was a high priority for

the agency. Standards for coal- and oil-fired utilities will be proposed by

March 2011 and made final by November 2011, she said.

" The EPA will have to stand firm and will need to strictly follow the Clean Air

Act and let the science dictate the reduction, " Levin said.

A state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman, Tom Rathbun, said

officials could not comment because they had not seen the report, adding that it

was hardly surprising Pennsylvania plants would produce a large amount of

emissions, considering that they also produce large amounts of power, exporting

some of it to four nearby states and the District of Columbia.