Mercury Falling. An Analysis of Mercury Pollution from Coal-Burning Power Plants

The White Paper:

John Coequyt and Richard Wiles, Environmental Working Group; Felice Stadler, Clear Air Network; and David Hawkins, National Resources Defense Council; December 2000.
http://www.ewg.org/reports_content/mercuryfalling/MercuryFalling.pdf

Review This White Paper’s Executive Summary:
http://www.ewg.org/reports_content/mercuryfalling/MercuryFalling.pdf

The Purpose of this White Paper:
To discuss how much mercury pollution comes from U.S. coal-burning power plants.

Some Background, Methods, Results, Caveats, and Other Select Points:

• This white paper was first distributed in 2000 and was never published in the peer-reviewed, scientific literature.
• The authors estimate that 98,000 pounds of mercury are put into the air each year by operating U.S., coal burning, power plants.
• They also estimate that 81,000 pounds of mercury is deposited in power plant waste each year as a result of using air pollution controls that remove part of the mercury from utility stack waste gases before these gases go into the air.
• The authors estimate that 20,000 pounds of mercury is emitted into the air each year while cleaning coal before it is burned at power plants.
• These authors recommend several new federal regulations to limit the mercury released into the environment by U.S. utility companies. These authors also want new federal laws to place limits on the mercury that electricity-generating plants can put into the environment each year.
• The authors do not explain how they selected the 397 power plants that were reviewed.
• This white paper is intended for advocacy purposes. It lays out a regulatory and legislative agenda.
• These authors studied federal government records of coal use and pollution control data collected from 447 power plants during 1998. They then estimated the mercury emissions from 397 plants. Power companies were required to collect their coal use data for one year as a result of a lawsuit brought by the National Resources Defense Council.

A Bottom Line:
At least two activists groups believe that U.S. utilities are not doing enough to reduce environmental mercury pollution.

This white paper advocates that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) use its authority to further limit the mercury that utilities release into the environment.

Find This White Paper for Your Review:
Mercury Falling. An Analysis of Mercury Pollution from Coal-Burning Power Plants. http://www.ewg.org/reports_content/mercuryfalling/MercuryFalling.pdf