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Most Power Plants Still Spewing Toxic Mercury, Report Says
WASHINGTON - Many of America's coal-fired power plants lack widely available pollution controls for the highly toxic metal mercury, and mercury emissions recently increased at more than half of the country's 50 largest mercury-emitting power plants, according to a report Wednesday.
The nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project reported that five of the 10 plants with the highest amount of mercury emitted are in Texas. Plants in Georgia, Missouri, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Michigan also are in the top 10.
The report, which used the most recent data available from the Environmental Protection Agency, found that mercury emissions increased at 27 of the top 50 plants from 2007 to 2008. Overall, power plant emissions of mercury decreased 4.7 percent in that timeframe, but that amount was far less than what would be possible with available emissions controls, the report said.
Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury pollution, generating more than 40 percent of U.S. emissions. Mercury released into the air settles in rivers and lakes, where it moves through the food chain to the fish that people eat.
Mercury exposure can harm the brain development of infants and children. Each year more than 300,000 babies may have an increased risk of learning disabilities as a result of exposure to mercury before birth, the report said.
"Even though the technology exists today to dramatically reduce the mercury pollution, the U.S. power industry has delayed cleanup and barely made a dent in the power plant emissions," said Ilan Levin, an attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit organization that promotes stronger enforcement of anti-pollution laws.
"Delay by both the EPA and the electric power industry is what has caused this," he said.
Mercury emissions in some states have declined as power plants have added pollution controls for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter that have a side benefit of reducing mercury as well. Some of the pollution controls were added as a result of settlements of lawsuits seeking enforcement of federal and state regulations.
Dan Riedinger, a spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, an industry group of shareholder-owned utilities, said power plant operators were cooperating with the EPA by providing the data on the amount of mercury going out of their plants' stacks. As plants are required to install controls for other pollutants, mercury emissions also are reduced, he said.
Some pollution controls that haven't been fully tested yet will bring much greater reductions of mercury in the future, Riedinger said. "But the majority of the reductions will take place once EPA has determined the level of reductions that it thinks necessary."
Since 1990, the EPA has been required under the Clean Air Act to impose controls on many forms of air pollution, including mercury. To date, however, there is still no national regulation to limit mercury pollution.
"Controlling mercury emissions is a high priority for EPA. The agency is in the process of developing a strategy to reduce these harmful emissions which threaten the air we breathe," said spokeswoman Catherine C. Milbourne.
The EPA is working on a mercury reduction rule for power plants and has agreed in a court settlement to complete it by November 2011. The agency adopted a cap-and-trade scheme of tradable mercury emission allowances in 2005, but a federal court ruled that it didn't comply with the clean air law and threw it out in 2008. The EPA also is working on regulations for mercury and other toxic air emissions from other sources, such as cement plants and industrial boilers.
U.S. power plants emitted 44.7 tons of mercury in 2008. The EPA had forecast in 2005 that it was possible to reduce mercury emissions to 15 tons per year under the Bush administration's plan and the use of pollution controls aimed at reducing smog and soot. The new report said that stricter requirements could reduce it to five tons a year.
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20 Comments so far
Show AllU.S. power plants emitted 44.7 tons of mercury in 2008...
As long as they aren't nuclear power plants, US "progressives" don't care.
Texas is number one!
Mercury damages your brain...
"five of the 10 plants with the highest amount of mercury emitted are in Texas"
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/03/12-6
"Texas Approves Curriculum Revised by Conservatives"
Hmmmmmm.......
bluepilgrim
The same....
Heck yeah! But we have a solution. Lets shut down all the refineries and electric generating plants and coal mining/natural gas/oil drilling except what we need to generate power for the State of Texas.
How about that? I'd go for it in a heartbeat.
GwNorth
Heck yeah! But we have a solution. Lets shut down all the refineries and electric generating plants and coal mining/natural gas/oil drilling except what we need to generate power for the State of Texas.
How about that? I'd go for it in a heartbeat.
Texas is a net IMPORTER of energy.
In DOLLAR value texas remains an exporter. In ENERGY value Texas is a net importer. That means all of the energy it produces and or exports is less then the sum total that is imported.
This has been the case since 1991.
If you count the oil and gas that is imported into our refineries and pipelines you are exactly correct.
But of you are saying we don't provide energy to the rest of the country you would be incorrect. But believe me, I'd be happy if we closed it down. You might also check the subsidized natural gas that is used up north and where it comes from. A power survey, especially of public transportation throughout our country can be a real eye opener.
Quit using that Democratic logic and math! :)
Nope....if you import energy to refine then export it again for sale, then it part of your net energy exports. In other words its a wash outside the energy used to refine it. The NET deficit in energy is far greater then that. Texas is a Glutton for energy.
To put it another way. If you closed the borders of Texas tomorrow...no energy IN and no energy out, Texas would have an energy shortage and have to cut back on usage and the rest of your country will have a more energy on hand. Texas consumes more energy then it produces.
The numbers provided are not Democratic numbers. They are provided by your own Government and I do not think they have had Democrats in power for some time.
Having worked on the edges of the powerplant stack testing industry, I've been telling people for years now that there's no such thing as "clean coal".
No amount of scrubbing removes all of the mercury, lead, etc.
Remember... "Clean Coal" is an industry-sponsored myth.
Here in Alberta, land of various kinds of black gold, the mercury levels in fish are high enough that they have issued an advisory against regularly eating fish caught here. pregnant women and kids under 12 are recommended to avoid eating locally caught fish all together.
this is what Alberta Health has to say:
"Mercury is a naturally-occurring element found in rocks, soils, water and air. Mercury is released into the air naturally and from household and industrial wastes such as burning coal. Mercury in the air returns to the ground and water with the rain and snow."
[http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/Mercury-Fish-Common-Questions.pdf
see, its natural. Nothing to worry about. Quick, Look! Tiger Woods is playing golf again!
The level of dumb-fuckery present in this part of the planet is utterly astounding.
I actually worked with a guy here who would regularly dump Oil from oil changes on his vehicles into a storm drain OR if he could not do that because of "Stupid Governmnet fines" he would dump it onto a pile in the woods behind his place.
His reasoning was this..
"They keep saying oil is bad for the enviroment..thats just crap. If it comes from the ground whats wrong with putting back in the ground ?"
You really can not get through to this type of person.
GwNorth
I hope you are kidding? Even most of our Rednecks dispose of their oil correctly these days.
Yeah, but back before the laws that set up waste oil collection centers at garages and parts stores. I had a guy in a garage in Virginia tell me exactly that. "Just go into the woods or a thicket, dig a little hole, and pour it in; it came from the ground didn't it?"
power plant...a plant that grows power...how natural and good...
a battery-powered butt wiper made in China for Walmart...how natural and good...
I am happy...
brain damage? how would I know from that?
Global Start Date: September 22, 2012...unanimous rejection of the modern world by all the world's citizens...cessation of industry and electricity and private property...local agrarian living...individual engagement in sustenance, resource management, governance and defense...
we're running out of time...
We're gonna need food...let's get those gardens growing!
Some interesting stuff here I'll have to investigate. I live in coal and electricity central - two huge coalfired generating plants within twenty miles (north and south of here) and two more 40 miles south.
I was not aware that the sulfur emissions scrubbers also reduced mercury emmissions. That is very interesting because one plant near here is using the manmade gypsum that results from injecting a lime slurry into the exhaust flue of these plants (the sulfur particulates bind chemically and mechanically with the lime slurry)is being used to make wallboard for commercial consumption.
So... we take the mercury out of the air and put it in the interiors of our homes. W.R. Grace and Company are probably laughing themselves silly over this one.
Another interesting side complication of the current scrubber technology is this. It has recently become known through the emerging field of Geopolymers that Alkali Activated Flyash (AAFA) cement has some very interesting and helpful benefits over traditional portland cement. As many know, Portland cement is very energy intensive to produce giving ordinary concrete a large carbon footprint. AAFA uses flyash from bituminous coal fired plants to produce a cement that is stronger, more resistant to chemical weathering and has the benefit of being a by-product of electricity production. The carbon footprint for AAFA therefor is somewhat mitigated by the fact of a beneficial use of a by-product of electricity generation.
The problem is that according to the research I have done, geopolymer researchers say that scrubber technology is degrading the quality of the flyash for secondary purposes. Don't worry if you may be confused: the flyash is the coal residue used to generate the heat to make steam; the gypsum is the "absorbant" injected into the exhaust stream, dried and processed. They are two different by-products.
My interest in AAFA was spurred by looking for alternatives to expensive slate or concrete roof tiles for the catchment system of my rebuilt cistern water supply.
Justaman
The flyash cement you are referring to indeed has many good qualities. It produces a consistent smooth textured cement that is actually stronger and make a high grade of cast cement. It also helps the permeability.
Veritas
On this site it is virtually impossible to mention an area of study that others may not know something about. This is very encouraging. Have you used AAFA? When I originally researched this I could have purchased a 1 ton skid of quality bituminous flyash for experiment and trial, now the supplier no longer offers that sale. I found a workable small batch formula from researchers in university in Australia.
My final concern, after reading hundreds of technical reports, was the leachability of constituent elements from AAFA based concrete. I'm looking for the "perfect" material for a roof covering which is the catchment system for my home cistern, the only source of water I have. Yes, I could drill a well, but the area is extensively deep and surface mined, and the old city uncontrolled sanitary landfill is only one ridge away and a currently operating landfill is within 1.5 miles. Also I believe, no matter what I may do, gas exploration and development from Marcellus Shale and CBM is coming to this area, and drilled wells may yield only toxicity and illness.
Because my rebuild could not wait for my experimentation with AAFA I chose steel shingles for my new roof coverings.
NO mercury is good mercury.
Wow! Look at Texas - does this explain their choice of text books?
The "Mad Hatter" is modeled on people who made hats in England. The mercury compound used in making felt caused them to go insane. Other symptoms included trembling, loss of coordination, slurred speech, loosening of teeth, memory loss, depression, irritability and anxiety. Wow - has Glen Beck been spending time in Texas? I don't know about the loose teeth, though.
Joe