Mercury levels in fish throughout the northeast represent one of the shortcomings of the national clean water program, but the mercury problem should be improving. The largest sources of mercury releases to the environment are coal-fired power plants. Although the Bush administration’s proposed Clean Air Act mercury regulations were properly thrown out by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, there are state regulations in place or proposed that are more stringent than the Bush administration proposals. Environmental Science & Technology (Vol. 43, No. 8; July 17, 2009) reports that several states have adopted requirements for 80% reductions in a first phase and 90% in a second phase. As an example, Pennsylvania adopted rules in October, 2006, calling for 80% controls from 2010 to 2014, and 90% in 2015. These reductions are known to be feasible.
According to ES & T, mercury depositions from Pennsylvania coal are more likely than coal from other regions to be deposited locally; nevertheless, the idea of a 90% reduction in mercury emissions in Pennsylvania is an attractive thought to a New Englander. In fact, we don’t really know how much difference these upwind reductions will make in our waters and fish; it remains to be seen. New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire are also imposing mercury reduction requirements. ES & T estimates that approximately one-third of the mercury from coal-fired power plants in the U.S. will be affected by these state regulations. We can hope that these reductions will actually happen, and actually produce measurable results in the waters and fish. Falling mercury levels will be cause for optimism!
