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State joins mercury pollution fight

Johnson News Service

ALBANY — New York is joining forces with its New England neighbors to fight mercury pollution.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has announced that, along with Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, it is petitioning the federal Environmental Protection Agency to convene a management conference of states whose mercury emissions affect the seven petitioners.

The petitioning states want EPA to invoke a provision in the federal Clean Water Act to force mercury emitting states to the conference table for talks on setting mercury reduction targets.

“In New York, more than 90 water bodies have restricted advisories for fish consumption because of elevated levels of mercury,” said Alexander B. “Pete” Grannis, DEC commissioner. “DEC has a strong record of implementing actions that reduce in-state mercury sources, and we're committed to doing even more. But the fact remains that out-of-state sources significantly impact our waterbodies, wildlife and public health and EPA needs to act on a national level to address this critical threat.”

Mercury is a highly toxic element, exposure to which can damage the human kidneys and nervous system. The mercury found in the waters of New York and New England comes largely from coal-fired power plants in the Midwest. In New York, the heaviest concentrations of mercury are found in the lakes and rivers of the Adirondack and Catskill regions, but Lake Champlain and the Hudson and Susquehanna rivers are affected as well.

In 2006, DEC adopted new regulations designed to cut mercury emissions from the state’s coal-fired power plants by 90 percent by 2015, and is examining ways to do the same at cement manufacturing plants, which also discharge mercury via their smokestacks.

“In contrast to the dismal record of EPA under the current administration, many states have taken aggressive and effective action to reduce mercury emissions, some located upwind of New York,” Grannis said. “But much more needs to be done and we look forward to working with the other states and EPA, under a new administration, to achieve the reductions needed to restore the health of our waterways.”

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