Vol. 3, No. 15
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June 1, 2006
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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Feature Story:
Very Little Science Involved In Mercury Standards
Most Web Sites, Most Studies Based Purely On Political Persuasion
by Johnny Gunn
Delving into something that is both scientific and a part of the environmental debate is opening a door to political intrigue, polarization of philosophies, and lying to promote a personal philosophy. It happens on both or in the case of studying mercury all sides. A study done by the Sierra Club will automatically be denounced by the conservative thinkers while a study done by a conservative scientific group will be called hogwash by liberals. To work one's way through the muck and mire is a task that was not relished by this reporter, but one that developed an article that needs to be told.
All sides seem to agree on a few things, in particular that mercury is a naturally occurring element listed on the periodic table as Hg. Most of the mercury that is released through today's industries comes from the generation of power. Mercury is also released through the recovery process in Nevada's mines and mills. Far more mercury is released naturally by the earth's natural functions, such as volcanic eruptions, underwater sources, and even rainfall on a cinnabar outcropping. Basically that is where knowledge ends and political profiling begins.
A large (some say the only large) study of mercury and its effects on humans was conducted several years ago called the Seychelles Study. It was done in a non-political fashion and today is quoted by liberal and conservative organizations regularly. Of course the liberal groups only quote what backs up their agenda, and conservatives do the same. Thus, a fine study has been reduced to virtually nothing.
What is mercury?
Mercury (Hg) is an element that has existed (and will continue to exist) naturally since the earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago. The oceans alone contain millions of tons of mercury. This information is from a paper called Mercury Science Fact Sheet released by the Center for Science and Public Policy (http://www.scienceandpolicy.org.)
1. There are two major forms of mercury emitted during fossil fuel combustion
• Oxidized, which is water soluble and can be washed out of the air into rivers, lakes, and streams.
• Elemental, which is not water soluble and moves around in a global mercury cycle.
· A small fraction (about one one-thousandth) of the oxidized mercury that ends up in waterways may be changed into an organic form called methylmercury (MeHg) which is the kind of mercury with which EPA is concerned. This type of mercury can be eaten by tiny organisms that are then eaten by small fish, resulting in possible bioaccumulation in larger fish eaten by humans.
• Methylmercury is not emitted directly from fossil-fuel-fired power plants. It is produced and accumulated within the biosphere by a myriad of mercury transformation processes that do not depend upon the amount of inorganic mercury emitted from man-made sources.
2. The natural cyclical production and destruction is controlled by environmental factors and ecosystem processes that are largely beyond human control or intervention.
Mercury as hazardous waste in Nevada
It is methylmercury that is most discussed by those working with the concept of mercury as a hazardous waste from industry. Methylmercury is also formed by natural occurrences, but is rarely discussed. In Nevada's power generation plants, those that are coal-fired, methylmercury is one of the byproducts that get into the air.
According to a report issued by Bush Greenwatch, "Power plants are the largest man-made source of mercury emissions in the U.S. In sum, power plants are responsible for 41% of annual mercury emissions." Conservationists are far more apt to blame mining in Nevada as the evil source of hazardous mercury emissions, but it is more than likely coal-fired generating plants that create the most waste.
The Nevada Mining Association (NMA) has just finished working with the State EPA in developing new standards for mercury emissions. NMA President Russ Fields outlined the associations programs and standards in this report.
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The Nevada Mining Association wants you to know the facts regarding Nevada gold mines' achievements in controlling mercury emissions.
Mercury occurs naturally in soils throughout the country and is a trace element contained in the ores we mine and process in Nevada. Unlike the recovery processes of the 1800s, mercury is no longer used to recover gold and silver. However, some precious metal ores contain recoverable amounts of mercury. Through the same process that produces gold and silver, some mercury is recovered and sold to manufacturers of various important products. Some gold and silver recovery processes can also cause a release of mercury into the air. Airborne mercury comes from many sources, both natural and anthropogenic (human-caused).
In April of 2006, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said recent emissions estimates of annual global mercury emissions from all sources, natural and anthropogenic (human-generated), which are highly uncertain, are about 4800-8300 tons per year. This range is consistent with its 1997 report to Congress, in which the EPA estimated that the total annual global input to the atmosphere is 5,500 tons of mercury from all sources. Of this total, the EPA reported the U.S. annual contribution from anthropogenic sources to the annual global total is approximately 158 tons.
For 2004, Nevada Mines reported Toxic Release Inventory air emissions of 2.3 tons. Using the EPA estimates of 5,500 tons of mercury from all sources in the global atmosphere, Nevada gold mining’s contribution would be about .04% of those mercury emissions. Using EPA’s estimate of approximately 158 tons per year from U.S. anthropogenic sources, Nevada gold mining’s contribution to U.S. man made emissions would be about 1.5%.
Nevertheless, the Nevada Mining Association and its members clearly recognize the importance of minimizing mercury in the environment. Nevada’s gold mines have taken aggressive action to reduce their emissions – with impressive results.
• The Voluntary Mercury Reduction Program
Nevada mining’s initial mercury air emissions reductions were achieved by four of the largest gold mining companies through their participation in the Voluntary Mercury Reduction Program (VMRP), beginning in 2001. The mining industry worked closely with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) and EPA’s Region 9 to develop and implement the VMRP. In addition, all gold mining members of the Nevada Mining Association worked together in 2005 on technology transfer and information sharing on methods to further reduce emissions.
Nevada’s newest precious metals processing facilities include state-of-the-art controls for mercury emissions. The U.S. EPA considers most of these control technologies consistent with Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) criteria under the Clean Air Act. The VMRP specifically addressed the older facilities – requiring them to add MACT-equivalent equipment or make operating modifications that would reduce mercury emissions by at least 50 percent by the end of 2005. Even greater reductions than the target were achieved far faster than would have been possible under the traditional federal rule making approach. By 2002, participants in the VMRP documented a 40 percent reduction in mercury emissions compared to 1998 levels and a further 35 percent reduction (for a total reduction of 75%) by the end of 2003 – earning the EPA’s “Environmental Heroes Award.” The estimated reduction in mercury air emissions achieved by VMRP participants through 2004 exceeds 80 percent relative to the 1998 baseline.
• Nevada’s New Regulatory Program
In October 2005, the NDEP, Nevada’s precious metals mining industry, and the EPA agreed to further enhancements to the mercury air emission reduction program. The NDEP described this effort in a document entitled “Nevada Mercury Air Emissions Control Program,” in which the agency stated that it “has determined that it is necessary and appropriate to develop measures for the control of mercury emissions from mercury emitting thermal point sources located at precious metals mining operations in Nevada.”
On March 8, 2006, the State Environmental Commission (SEC) formalized the program as a regulation pursuant to the commission’s statutory authority in Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 445B.100 and 445B.235. The new regulation became effective on May 4, 2006.
The new program does the following:
· It replaces and builds upon the success of the VMRP.
· It complies with federal Clean Air Act requirements and obviates the need for the EPA to pass a federal rule for mercury controls at precious metals mines.
· It establishes a very stringent requirement for installation and operation of state-of-the-art mercury emission controls (defined as the Nevada MACT) on all significant mercury sources from all precious metals mines in Nevada.
· As part of the state’s air quality permitting program, compliance is mandatory and enforceable.
· The program requires detailed monitoring, testing, record keeping, and reporting to the State.
The Nevada Mining Association and its member companies testified in favor of the SEC’s adoption of the new regulation and look forward to continued success in controlling mercury air emissions from Nevada’s gold production facilities.
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The only reasonable and scientific article that has been published in the last 20 years dealing with mercury is the Seychelles Study conducted by Dr. Thomas Clarkson of the University of Rochester and his team. Clarkson is noted in a FDA report as being the lead investigator. All the other reports that we have been able to discover base their findings on the Seychelles Study, and then veer off into a political quagmire of either liberal or conservative gibberish.
Several studies that have used the Seychelles Study have indicated that either the EPA standards are extremely low, and low for political purposes, or they are absolutely the highest in the world and need to be lowered for industrial or political reasons. In some cases our investigation of mercury has led us into groups and organizations that called the Seychelles Study flawed and offered their own observations backed up by nothing more than political opinion.
Other organizations were obviously funded by industries that desired mercury standards to be lowered and they manipulated facts and figures to suit their own needs. To see exactly what a mess the entire mercury situation is, not just in the U.S., but worldwide, go to Google and type in 'mercury standards'. And then re-read this piece while attempting to not get angry. The EPA is not to be trusted in this battle any more than the most liberal of all conservationist organizations. The entire question of mercury as a hazardous material has become nothing more than a political football that will never score a goal.
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