Chronic polluter BP ("Beyond" Petroleum) may have been given license to continue polluting Lake Michigan (more on than in a moment), but one of the country's biggest mercury polluters will be changing its ways in the coming years. The ERCO plant in Wisconsin will make the switch to mercury-free technology in 2009, eliminating the single biggest polluter in the state and a major cause of the Midwest's continued fish consumption advisories. The question of what to do with the mercury the company already has at its plant is a touchy one, since mercury traded on the open market often finds its way to other polluting sources. Still, this is a major victory for Oceana, the environmental organization that had been pressuring the company to convert for years. Oceana isn't shy about saying so, either. And why should they be? From their statement following ERCO Worldwide's announcement:
"Of the nine plants that were using mercury-cell technology to make chlorine when Oceana launched its campaign in 2005, only four remain that have not committed to stop using mercury. We hope ERCO’s decision will soon be replicated by the four remaining plants that continue to use 110-year-old technology, which results in the release of four times more mercury per plant, on average, than the average power plant.â€Our heartfelt congratulations and thanks to Oceana.
Tentative congrats also go out to those who loudly protested the decision of the state of Indiana to grant BP a permit to increase the amount of waste it releases into Lake Michigan. The state and the company are now "reconsidering" the permit. While state officials still say they have no legal grounds to rescind the permit, they are looking into the matter. Nice to know public complaints are being taken into consideration, but shouldn't public health have been considered from the beginning?