S.1875
Omnibus Mercury Emission Reduction Act of 2001 (Introduced in the Senate)
SEC. 5. REDUCTION OF MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM SOLID WASTE INCINERATION
UNITS.
(a) SEPARATION OF MERCURY-CONTAINING ITEMS-
Section 3002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6922) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
`(c) SEPARATION OF MERCURY-CONTAINING ITEMS-
`(1) PUBLICATION OF LIST-
`(A) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this subsection, the Administrator shall
publish a list of mercury-containing items that shall be required to be
separated and removed from the waste streams
that feed solid waste management facilities.
`(B) REQUIRED ITEMS- The list shall include mercury-containing items such
as fluorescent light bulbs and tubes,
batteries, pharmaceuticals, laboratory chemicals and reagents, electrical
devices such as thermostats, relays, and
switches, and medical and scientific instruments.
What are the biggest sources of mercury air emissions?
According to
EPA's 1997 Mercury Study Report to Congress, coal-fired electric utilities
are the
largest source
of human-caused mercury air emissions in the U.S. Utilities are followed
by:
1. Municipal waste combustors (19 percent);
2. Medical waste incinerators (10 percent);
3. Hazardous waste combustors (4+ percent).
How does mercury move through the environment?
In the atmosphere,
mercury is transported by wind either as a vapor or as particles. Mercury
reaches
waters either
through direct deposition or as run-off from soil after rain. In the water,
biological
processes can
transform mercury into methylmercury - a highly toxic form, which can accumulate
in
fish.
How does mercury from power plants wind up in fish?
When mercury
is deposited into the water, microorganisms help convert it to methylmercury,
a
highly toxic
form of mercury. Small organisms and plants take up the mercury as they
feed. As
animals higher
up the food chain eat those plants and organisms, they, too, take in methylmercury.
The process
continues, with levels of mercury increasing, up the food chain. This process
is known
as bioaccumulation.
Fish higher in the food chain, such as sharks and swordfish, have much
higher
mercury concentrations
than fish lower on the food chain.
http://www.fe.doe.gov/coal_power/existingplants/mercurycontrol_fs.shtml
On Dec, 14, 2000 EPA determined there is sufficient cause to require
coal-fired utilities to
control mercury emissions, but it is unclear how much mercury is to be
removed. According
to this determination, a proposed rule, which would include the required
mercury-removal
levels, must be completed by December of 2003 with the final version due
the following
December. Utilities would have until December of 2007 to come into compliance
with the
new rule according to the current timeframe.
....
But the effectiveness of mercury capture at individual plants can vary,
a problem made
especially difficult because mercury can be released in both elemental
and oxidized forms.
Oxidized mercury typically ranges from 30 to 70 percent of the total mercury
in flue gas,
depending upon the amount of mercury in coal and the way the coal is burned.
Existing pollution control devices such as electrostatic precipitators
(which remove solid
particles) can be effective in removing elemental and in some cases, oxidized
mercury.
Typically, removals range between zero and 30%, but can be as high as 60%
for elemental
mercury. Wet scrubbers are effective in removing oxidized mercury ranging
from 75 to 99%,
with overall total mercury removals of 55%. Dry flue gas desulfurization
scrubbers can
remove both oxidized and elemental with total mercury removals as high
as 90% when
coupled with a baghouse. Baghouses also remove both forms of mercury, but
their
effectiveness depends on the type of filter and other power plant specifics
(mainly fly ash
properties and temperature).
In short, pollution control systems can be effective in removing as high
as 90 percent of the
incoming coal's mercury levels in a few cases while in others, very little
mercury is removed.
http://www.powerscorecard.org/issue_detail.cfm?issue=Mercury
How does electricity production contribute to increased levels of mercury and other air toxics?
The smokestacks of power plants spew a broad range of toxic substances
into the air. Included among these chemical
vapors are known carcinogens such as mercury, heavy metals (arsenic, beryllium,
cadmium, nickel), dioxin, furans and
PCBs. Based on a recent national inventory of hazardous air pollutants
released into the air by electric power plants, EPA
found that coal and oil fired generating units represent a major source
of several major hazardous air pollutants. Other
generating technologies - especially waste-to-energy facilities (municipal
solid waste, tire burning and wood waste) also
contribute to the nation's inventory of listed hazardous air pollutants.
By contrast, natural gas plants and facilities relying on
renewable energy sources have negligible, or no toxic emissions, respectively.
Electric power plants are the single largest source of mercury emissions.
An inventory of mercury emissions conducted by
EPA found that one-third of all mercury air emissions come from coal burning
electric power plants. Mercury is present in
the coal used as feedstock in the utility boiler. As the coal is combusted
in the utility boiler, mercury is vaporized and
released as a gas. Pollution controls employed by utilities to curb other
pollutants are not effective in removing mercury. At
present, there are no commercially viable control technologies for mercury.
As a consequence, this highly toxic form of air
pollution continues to go largely unabated.