Echo Online
Published October 31, 2005
Mercury: it's not just for thermometers anymore.
A wealth of information indicates that pollution released from coal-fired power plants in the Southeast Michigan area and abroad contains substantially high levels of the toxic chemical, which, if taken in, can harm the nervous system, as well as damage the brains of developing fetuses. While breathing air poisoned with mercury is a concern, the state of Michigan has become particularly vigilant in warning against its presence in the state's fish supply, some of which resides in waters that are polluted with mercury. According to the first sentence of the 2004 Michigan Family Fish Consumption Guide, which is located on the state's official website,
www.michigan.gov, women of childbearing age and children under the age of 15 should exercise "extra caution" when eating Michigan fish, which absorb the chemical through their gills. Using information provided by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2004, the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) calculates that thousands of pounds of mercury emissions are released in Southeast Michigan alone on an annual basis. A new study released by Republican U.S. Representative Mark Kirk (10th district, Illinois), reported in the Oct. 27 edition of The Pioneer Press, says that Lake Michigan has the heaviest mercury load of any of the Great Lakes, the overwhelming majority of which comes from coal-burning plants. A 1998 Environmental Working Group study placed DTE Energy Company's Monroe Power Plant at the top of the list for Michigan's sources of mercury pollution, releasing an estimated 1,315 pounds of the toxin annually (Trenton's Channel Power Plant ranked fourth on the list, with 339 pounds released yearly).
As it relates to the issue of mercury pollution, there is much debate regarding whether President George W. Bush's "Clean Skies Initiative," which replaced the pre-existing Clean Air Act, is a support or a hindrance to progress (its cap-and-trade program lowers the net volume of pollution, but does so by raising pollution levels in some areas and lowering it in others). Regardless of federal policy, however, the raw numbers show us that there is far too much mercury in our water and air, especially when considering that the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy vowed to create technologies to better control mercury emissions by 2005. According to the NRDC, many of these technologies are available now.
Protecting citizens and their environment is the responsibility of everyone-including federal, state and local governments-and the editorial staff of the Eastern Echo encourages Governor Jennifer Granholm to use the information at her disposal to follow through on her 2003 goal of phasing out mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants through use of new technologies (a work group convened by Granholm completed an exhaustive review of mercury controls this June, according to the NRDC). For the health of all Michigan inhabitants, this needs to be done regardless of the cost of the task and potential opposition from lobbyists in the power industry. It won't be easy and it won't be cheap, but Granholm can and must follow through on her promise and stop standing still on this important health issue.
