Easley Administration Proposes Rule that Fails to Address North Carolina’s Mercury Problem
As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work,
Environment North Carolina can be contacted with any questions regarding this
news release.
What’s Happening?
Today, January 11, the Air Quality Committee (AQC) of the Environmental
Management Commission (EMC) will hear rules intended to address North
Carolina’s mercury problem. The rules, drafted by Gov. Easley’s
Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR’s) Division of
Air Quality (DAQ), will put off any mercury reductions by the state’s
largest polluters for 12 years, until 2018.
Why Is Mercury Pollution A Problem?
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can affect the brain, heart, and
immune system. Developing fetuses and children are especially at risk.
Every mother wants her child to grow up happy and healthy, but
scientists estimate that one in six women has enough mercury in her
body to put her child at risk should she become pregnant.
The
main way people are exposed to mercury is by eating fish. Scientists
have found that just a gram of mercury, about a drop, deposited over
the course of a year was enough to contaminate the fish in an entire
lake.
Right
now, North Carolina’s power plants emit 58% of the mercury that ends up
in our state’s waterways. In fact, electric utilities are the only
unregulated source of mercury pollution. That pollution has resulted in
mercury-related fish consumption advisories that cover every mile of
our coastal waterways and every waterway south and east of I-85.
What Has The Federal Government Done?
The federal Clean Air Act requires that every power plant in the nation
install controls to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollutants by
the maximum possible extent by 2008. Current technology would allow for
90% reductions in mercury pollution from power plants. In spite of
current law, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted the
Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) in March 2005 that will allow power
plants not only to buy and trade mercury “credits” but also to delay
even modest mercury reductions until at least 2018.
Doesn’t The Clean Smokestacks Act Solve This Problem?
Simply put, no. The Clean Smokestacks Act (CSA), passed by the NC
General Assembly in 2002 is intended to reduce smog and soot pollution.
Cutting these pollutants will likely produce only incidental reductions
in mercury of approximately 60-70% and only in the state’s 14 largest
coal-burning power plants and not until 2013.
The
CSA was not intended to address mercury pollution because at the time,
the federal Clean Air Act already required that all power plants
address mercury pollution by implementing the a Maximum Achievable
Control Technology (MACT) by the year 2008. EPA testing shows that
mercury from coal-fired power plants can be reduced by 90% using
existing technology, so 90% was set as the MACT standard.
Now
that the federal government has illegally adopted mercury rules that
avoid the MACT standard, North Carolina is left without strong
standards for our state’s mercury pollution problem.
While
60-70% reductions in mercury from the state’s largest power plants is a
good first step, it’s not enough to protect the health of North
Carolina’s women and children.
What Is North Carolina Going To Do?
Tomorrow, the Easley administration will present to the Environmental
Management Commission Air Quality Committee with rules that do nothing
to reduce mercury pollution in the state for 12 years.
The
rules give power plants that are not addressed in the Clean Smokestacks
act until 2018 to clean up and even then, only 50% of the units will
need to reduce their mercury pollution. The other 50% will have an
additional 5 years to clean up.
The
rules do nothing to address mercury pollution from the state’s largest
and dirtiest power plants. Furthermore, because this is a bank and
trade system, minor reductions made by large power plants will let
smaller units completely off the hook.
The EMC has the option to implement stronger, more protective rules.
What Is Happening In Other States?
Just last week, the Governor of Illinois announced that his state will
adopt a mercury rule that will require 90% reductions by 2009.
Massachusetts has a rule that will require 85% reductions in power plant mercury by 2008 and 95% reductions by 2012.
New Jersey has a rule that will require 90% reductions by 2007.
Connecticut has a rule that will require 90% reductions by 2008.
Similarly strong rules are in the works in other states that depend on coal-fired power plants for energy.
What Should Happen In North Carolina?
North Carolina has been a leader on clean air issues, we should
continue that track record to solve our mercury problems. The
technology is available and affordable to reduce mercury pollution from
every single power plant in the state by 90%. North Carolina’s children
deserve no less.
Tomorrow,
the Environmental Management Commission has the opportunity to take an
important step in reducing mercury pollution by telling the Easley
Administration to go back to the drawing board and create a rule that
will drastically reduce the threat of mercury in our state and protect
North Carolina’s children.
