What is the Problem?
The majority of the
mercury entering lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans comes from the
atmosphere. Air deposition accounts for up to 90% of the mercury
entering Lake Superior, and 80% entering the Delaware Bay. Eight-five
percent of all mercury pollution in the U.S. is released by power
plants burning coal and municipal and medical waste incinerators
burning mercury tainted trash. Wind can carry airborne mercury great
distances before it is deposited on land and water, primarily by rain
and snow, contaminating remote lakes once thought to be pristine
hundreds of miles from the nearest mercury source.
Gone
Fishing: How the Failure to Reduce Mercury Emissions
Threatens Americans' Health. A comprehensive report summarizing the
mercury problem and actions that need to be taken to fully address
the problem, 12/97.
Mercury Still
Rising: A One-Year Assessment of Actions Taken to Reduce
Mercury Emissions and Protect Americans from Mercury Exposure.
Released one year after the EPA released its 1400-page report to
congress, 12/98
Mercury
Emissions in the U.S. Fact sheet on common known
sources of mercury pollution.
Car Lights Contain
Mercury
Press release from MPP
Mercury Sources Power plants top the
list.
Mercury Control Options for Coal-Fired Power
Plants
Advocacy
Efforts
The EPA
Mercury Report Card Is the EPA doing its job to
protect you from mercury pollution? Released one year after the EPA
submitted its mercury report to congress, 12/98.
New England/Eastern Canada Report
Card Evaluating the performance of individual states and
provinces to meet the goals of the regional mercury action plan.
Released by a coalition of US and Canadian environmental groups one
year after governors and premiers signed their Mercury
Action Plan, 6/99.
An Open
Letter to Governors by 166 Citizen Environmental and Public Health
Organizations Submitted to the National Governors' Association.
Outlines a national platform for addressing mercury contamination and
exposure in the US, 2/99.
Policy
Opportunities
EPA Finalizes
Plan to Monitor Mercury from Coal-Fired Power
Plants For the first time, power plants are required to
report the amount of mercury being burned at individual coal-fired
boilers,11/98.
Mercury Policy
Recommendations for New England/Eastern Canada Written by a
coalition of New England and Eastern Canadian mercury advocates,
including Native American tribes, conservation, public health, and
environmental groups. Submitted to Governors and Premiers for
inclusion in their regional mercury action plan, Spring 1998.
Mercury
Product Phase-Out Alternatives to common
mercury-containing products.
Model
State Legislature
Healthcare
Mercury Management in
Healthcare
An open
letter to federal and state regulators, departments of
health, product manufacturers, businesses, and consumers from over 60
physicians nationwide.
Resources
Mercury
Resource List
U.S.
EPA Mercury Study Report to Congress
1400 page document covering all aspects of the mercury
problem.
Mercury
deposition in the Arctic Wire story on a new study
documenting that global warming and pollution in the polar region is
increasing.
The New
England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers adopted
a regional mercury action plan in June 1998 committing to
the virtual elimination of mercury releases, with a 50 percent
reduction in five years.
What action
is being taken to address mercury as a cross-border pollutant?
Go to the Bi-National
Toxics Strategy Mercury web site, a comprehensive site that
includes information on the strategy, and numerous links to reports
and other resources on the sources of mercury (including
sector-specific information), voluntary and state efforts to reduce
mercury, and federal actions.
The
atmosphere is the leading source of mercury entering lakes, rivers,
streams and oceans. Find out what
EPA is doing to address this problem. This site also includes a
link to EPA's air deposition page, with information on the two
mercury TMDL pilots, and an interesting map showing atmos deposition
of total nitrogen nationally, and by EPA region.
Read a
recent
Canadian case study on atmospheric depositon of
mercury
Mercury
contamination in aquatic ecosystems
An overview of the problem. US Geological Survey fact sheet.
Vermont's Forest Floors Soak Up More
Mercury
Article from a Vermont newspaper on mercury in the forest
floor
