Pennsylvania Independent Advisory Panel Sends State-Specific Mercury Proposal to EQB for Final Approval
Press Release Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
September 28, 2006
An independent advisory panel for the Department
of Environmental Protection has approved moving forward with Governor Edward G.
Rendell's state-specific plan to reduce toxic mercury emissions from coal-fired
power plants in Pennsylvania.
The 16-member Air Quality Technical
Advisory Committee on Wednesday voted 7-4, with one abstention, to send the
rulemaking to the Environmental Quality Board for final approval. The state plan
cuts mercury emissions faster and more substantially than a weaker rule
finalized last year, achieving at least 90 percent mercury reduction by 2015.
"The state-specific rule has been the subject of numerous reviews and
rigorous technical evaluations to ensure the requirements are both protective of
public health and the environment and economically feasible," DEP Secretary
Kathleen A. McGinty said. "The cost of failing to act to protect the public from
toxic mercury is far greater than the relatively modest cost of proven,
effective mercury controls."
The Air Quality Technical Advisory
Committee, which is made up of members who have technical backgrounds in
controlling air pollution from stationary or mobile sources, advises DEP on the
department's policies, guidance and regulations for new or proposed revisions to
the state's air pollution control requirements.
With AQTAC's approval,
the state-specific mercury proposal now goes to the Environmental Quality Board,
which received 10,934 responses -- a new record for a rulemaking in Pennsylvania
-- during its public comment phase for the proposal. Of those comments, fewer
than three dozen opposed the state plan.
The EQB is scheduled to vote on
the state-specific plan Oct. 17. Pennsylvania must submit a plan that describes
how the state will implement and enforce the federal emissions guidelines or its
own more protective standards to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by
Nov. 17.
Technology to control mercury from coal-fired power plants is
readily available, sufficiently demonstrated and relatively inexpensive to
install and operate.
Sorbent Technologies, for example, offers
brominated powdered activated carbons for commercial sale to coal-fired power
plants as well as injection systems needed to utilize the sorbents. The sorbents
cost about $1 per pound and the systems cost between $500,000 and $1 million
each. The company also notes that because of the particular characteristics of
Pennsylvania's bituminous coal, "reductions through activated carbon injection
are particularly cost-effective."
Mercury control technology also is
well proven. Activated carbon injection technology has been used for years to
control mercury emissions from municipal waste and hazardous waste combustors --
systems that are quite similar to coal-fired power plants.
The benefits
of strong action to cut mercury pollution are extensive and vital. EPA's Office
of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds found that a 30 percent to 100 percent
reduction of mercury emissions nationally would translate into a $600-million to
$2-billion cost savings. The cost savings were attributed largely to reduced
health risks, including cardiovascular disease.
A study prepared by the
Harvard Center for Risk Analysis revealed that EPA miscalculated the "nature of
the risk involved" when it devised CAMR. This study found the public benefit of
reducing power plant mercury emissions to 15 tons per year ranges from $119
million annually (if only persistent IQ deficits from fetal exposures to
methylmercury are counted) to as much as $5.2 billion annually (if IQ deficits,
cardiovascular effects and premature mortality are counted). Strongly critical
of EPA's rule, this study actually was funded by EPA, co-authored by an EPA
scientist and peer-reviewed by two other EPA scientists.
Mercury is a
persistent, bio-accumulative neurotoxin that can remain active in the
environment for more than 10,000 years. Pregnant women, children, subsistence
fishermen and recreational anglers are most at risk for problems that include
brain and nervous system damage in children and heart and immune system damage
for adults. Medical research shows that even very low levels of mercury can
impair intelligence and brain function.
If you have suffered from mercury exposure, you need the experience of Weitz & Luxenberg on your side. For a FREE case evaulation, fill out the simple form below.
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