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A plan by Minnesota's largest smokestack
industries to reduce mercury emissions is set to be unveiled this
week before the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's board in St.
Paul.
    

  The plan, which has been in the works for years, would cut the
amount of toxic mercury being emitted in Minnesota's air over the
next 18 years. Mercury pollution is a concern, because it
eventually falls to the ground and can contaminate fish.


      Industrial operations - from power plants to taconite plants to
crematoriums - have agreed to cut the amount of mercury that leaves
their smokestacks in what's viewed as the biggest step ever taken
to reduce such pollution in the state and perhaps nationwide.


      "It is remarkable that we got all of these various industries
to agree to specific cuts. It's a first in this country," said
David Thornton, the MPCA's assistant commissioner for air policy.


      Thornton said environmental and industry leaders hope Minnesota
can lead other states to also cut mercury emissions, because the
quality of Minnesota's waterways are not solely dependent on
emissions within the state's borders.


      The new mercury reduction plan comes after the Environmental
Protection Agency last year approved a deal between the industries
and the MPCA to cut mercury output from 3,133 pounds to 789 pounds
by 2025.


      State officials and industry representatives have been working
since then to determine how to reach that goal. The biggest
reductions will come at coal-fired power plants, where mercury
emissions would go from 1,716 pounds in 2005 to 235 pounds by 2025.


      Taconite processing plants have agreed to cut their mercury
emissions by about 70 percent, but it isn't yet clear how the cuts
will be achieved. Meanwhile, new taconite mining projects being
developed in the state are expected to increase mercury pollution
by 10 percent before the emissions start dropping.


      There are also no similar models for mercury controls for the
taconite industry, and mercury task force member Nancy Lange said
it was difficult to get the industry on board with the reduction
plan.


      "Eventually everyone agreed that taconite's answer, that they
were 'doing research,' simply wasn't enough," said Lange, clean
air program coordinator for the Izaak Walton League of America.
"The taconite industry was hearing, even from other industries,
that they needed to step up. And they did."


      The specific cuts will be written into each facility's air
emissions permits during their next renewal.


      While some people had initially opposed the cuts, saying they
would cost too much, supporters pointed to Minnesota's opportunity
to take the lead again on an environmental issue. It was 30 years
ago that Minnesota officials took steps to cut sulfur emissions
that cause acid rain, a move later duplicated by other states and
the federal government.


      "Minnesota's process is being watched by EPA and by other
states," Lange said. "We heard many times at the table how little
mercury actually comes from Minnesota. But I was impressed with the
commitment to put that aside and still take action."

Information from: Duluth News Tribune,
http://www.duluthsuperior.com

Gallery

A plan by Minnesota's largest smokestack
industries to reduce mercury emissions is set to be unveiled this
week before the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's board in St.
Paul.

MPCA to examine plan to reduce mercury emissions

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