Mercury Rule Media Kit

Fast Facts

Mercury

• A naturally-occurring element that cannot be created or destroyed
• Found in the earth's crust, many rocks, and coal
• A heavy metal for which people have found many uses
• Can also be highly toxic and cause health problems - some forms more toxic than others
• Emitted from several sources - natural and human-made
• Released into the air when burning coal, burning mercury-containing wastes, producing chlorine
• Once emitted, travels through air, sometimes long distances, eventually falls and deposited into waterways and onto the land and vegetation
• In lakes and wetlands, bacteria convert elemental mercury to methyl mercury, a more toxic form readily taken up by fish and other organisms in water bodies

Health Effects

• Health experts worldwide have recognized mercury as hazardous material responsible for serious public health, environmental and economic problems for decades
• Mercury can damage the developing brains of children, affect their behavior and ability to learn
• Mercury can also damage the human nervous system - in adults too much may lead to loss of coordination and memory and affect vision, hearing and speech

Fish

• All Wisconsin lakes have a mercury fish consumption advisory; EPA estimates roughly 437,000 Wisconsin men and women are exposed to hazardous mercury levels by eating fish
• DNR's earliest examination of mercury contamination began in 1970, including fish sampling in the Wisconsin River where known sources of mercury were a concern
• Wisconsin began mercury-based consumption advisories in 1985 after elevated mercury levels identified in sport fish harvested from several northern lakes
• Wisconsin is country's number 2 fishing destination. Fishing generates a $2.75 billion economic impact in Wisconsin and supports more than 30,000 jobs. Fishing related activities and sales generate nearly $200 million in state tax revenues for local and state government. 381,000 nonresident anglers fished in Wisconsin in 2006, spending a total of 3.8 million days and $280 million on retail goods

Emission Sources

• Coal-burning power plants are largest human-caused source of mercury emissions to the air in the US, contributing over 40 percent of all domestic human-caused mercury emissions
• According to 2005 air emission inventory data, a total of 4,140 pounds of mercury was released into environment from Wisconsin's stationary air pollution sources (permitted facilities):
  • 2,586 pounds (62.5 percent) from coal-fired electrical generating units
  • 1,139 pounds (27.5 percent) from the chlor-alkali facility in Port Edwards, Wisconsin. (Wisconsin's sole chlor-alkali facility, ERCO Worldwide, has announced that it will undergo modifications to eliminate its mercury cell technology by the end of 2009.)
  • 195 pounds (4.7 percent) from coal-fired power boilers located at industrial facilities
• Mercury emissions from large power plants will be reduced to approximately 536 pounds annually once the 90% mercury reduction is achieved. This will occur between 2015 and 2021, depending on how many power plants take the multi-pollutant reduction option.

Health Impacts

Mercury is a hazardous material that causes serious environmental and health problems. Although it is found naturally, problems arise from its release from man-made products and energy production.

Human exposure to mercury occurs either short-term through breakage and spills of mercury-containing equipment (acute exposure) or longer-term through regular consumption of fish contaminated with methylmercury (chronic exposure).

Symptoms from Chronic Exposure to Methylmercury

Adults

• sleep disturbances
• irritability
• memory loss
• behavior changes
• paresthesia - a sensation of pricking on the skin
• blurred vision
• malaise - a vague feeling of illness or depression
• speech difficulties
• constriction of the visual field
• deafness

Children

• impaired dexterity
• impaired fine motor skills
• impaired verbal memory
• delayed development

Infants born to women who ingested high concentrations

• mental retardation
• ataxia - loss or lack of muscular coordination
• deafness
• constriction of the visual field
• blindness
• cerebral palsy

Infants born to women who ingested lower concentrations

• developmental delays
• abnormal reflexes

Following the fish consumption advice allows people to obtain the health benefits of eating fish while reducing their risk of exposure to environmental contaminants in fish.

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Rule

Wisconsin has rules limiting mercury emissions which were revised in 2008.

Rule Summary

The revisions to Wisconsin's mercury rule are based upon a health and welfare finding: Mercury Emissions from Coal-fired Power Plants [PDF]

The rule has two phases for large power plants:

• Requires the state's four major utilities to reduce their mercury emissions by 40 percent by 2010
• Requires large (150 MW and greater) coal-fired power plant mercury reductions to use one of two approaches:
  • Achieve a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions from coal by the year 2015 or
  • Reduce multiple pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), and achieve 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions six years later

The rule also:

• Requires that small (> 25 MW and < 150 MW) coal-fired power plants reduce their mercury emissions to a level defined as Best Available Control Technology (BACT)
• Creates certainty for utility investments in pollution abatement equipment and technology
• Assures future electrical reliability for business and ratepayers at reasonable costs

For more information, click on Mercury Rule and Revisions.

What the Rule Achieves

• If all large power plants elected to achieve a 90% mercury reduction by 2015, total mercury emissions would be approximately 536 pounds per year. If all large power plants elected to follow the multipollutant option, mercury emissions would still be reduced to 536 pounds but not until year 2021.
• Substantial reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions by 2015 under the multipollutant option. These reductions of pollutants other than mercury have significant health and welfare benefits to Wisconsin and address other critical air quality concerns including fine particles, haze and ground level ozone.

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Sources

Mercury Sources In the Environment

• Element in the earth's crust
• Found in many rocks including coal and natural deposits of cinnabar (HgS)
• Natural phenomena include volcanic eruptions, forest fires, erosion of mercury-bearing soils and rocks, evaporation of mercury-containing water, and animal secretions
• Human-related sources of mercury include:
  1. Coal-fired power plants
  2. Industrial coal-fired boilers
  3. Chlor-alkali production
  4. Sludge drying and combustion
  5. Foundries
  6. Waste incineration
  7. Natural gas and oil combustion
  8. Non-ferrous metal smelters
  9. Iron and steel plants
  10. Cement plants
  11. Paper pulp factories
  12. Municipal, hospital and other incinerators
  13. Amalgam fillings in dentistry

Once mercury is released to the atmosphere, it can travel long distances. Ultimately, mercury in the air deposits into water or onto land and vegetation where it can be washed into the water.

Mercury Sources in Wisconsin

Wisconsin air emission inventory data indicates that three major types of stationary sources (permitted facilities) are responsible for mercury air emissions in the state:

1. Coal-fired electrical generating units.
2. ERCO Worldwide chlor-alkali facility in Port Edwards.
3. Industrial coal-fired power boilers.

Wisconsin's sole chlor-alkali facility, ERCO Worldwide, is modifying operations to eliminate its use of mercury cell technology by the end of 2009.

Mercury Source Estimates for Greater Milwaukee

Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy - Milwaukee Mercury Source Sector Assessment [exit DNR]

Wisconsin Stationary Source Mercury Emission Sources

Wisconsin DNR Air Emissions Inventory - 2005, Bureau of Air Management.

* Firing of different fuels is reported as separate processes for the same unit therefore there may be multiple reported processes for a single emission unit (e.g. a boiler burning coal and coke have two reported processes in the air emission inventory). The one exception is the ERCO chlor-alkali production which has nine separate reported processes but for purposes of this analysis they are considered one process.

** ERCO Worldwide is modifying operations to eliminate use of mercury cell technology by the end of 2009 and will no longer emit mercury.

*** Solid fuel EGU boilers are primarily coal-fired but other reported fuels include coke, tires, biomass, and paper pellets.

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More Resources

• Wisconsin Fish Consumption Advisories
• Mercury Air Monitoring
• Mercury Reduction and Mercury in the Environment
• EPA's Comprehensive Mercury Web Page [exit DNR]
• Bi-National Toxics Strategy - Reducing Mercury in the Great Lakes Region [exit DNR]
• EPA and Great Lakes Bi-National Toxics Strategy [exit DNR]

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Related News

Governor's News Release

• "Governor Doyle Column: Securing a Cleaner Future" announcing new mercury rule [exit DNR]