Mercury Hotspots Detected in Eastern USA and Canada

Mercury Hotspots Detected in Eastern USA and Canada





    
 
January 2007  – U.S. sources of 
mercury emissions, particularly coal-fired power plants, are 
the major cause of five biological mercury hotspots identified 
in New England, New York and Nova Scotia, according to two new 
scientific studies. 
The findings indicate the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, EPA, is greatly underestimating local and regional 
impacts of mercury emissions, but also show that mercury 
levels in fish and wildlife can decline when airborne mercury 
emissions from nearby sources are decreased. 
Published in this month’s issue of "BioScience," the two new 
studies are part of a three year research effort coordinated 
by the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation, HBRF. 
Dr. Charles Driscoll conducts research on element cycling in 
soil, soil waters and surface waters and serves as a professor 
in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at 
Syracuse University. (Photo courtesy HBRF) 
"There is still a lot that we don't understand about mercury, 
but it is clear that biological mercury hotspots occur and 
that mercury emissions from sources in the U.S., as opposed to 
China and other countries overseas, are the leading cause," 
said Charles Driscoll, a Syracuse University environmental 
systems engineering professor and a principal investigator 
with Hubbard Brook. 
The five hotspots identified by the 11 member research team 
include the west and central Adirondack Mountains in New York, 
the upper Connecticut River in New Hampshire and Vermont, the 
lower and middle Merrimack River in New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts, the upper Androscoggin and Kennebec rivers in 
Maine, and central Nova Scotia. 
In addition, the researchers, who analyzed mercury levels in 
fish, birds and mammals, identified nine other suspected 
hotspots in New England and southeastern Canada. 
Nova Scotia Power's Point-Tupper power plant burns bituminous 
coal. (Photo courtesy NSPI) 
Mercury from power plants and other sources is deposited in 
the environment, where it can be transformed into methyl 
mercury, a deadly neurotoxin that can cause reproductive harm 
to fish and wildlife, as well as neurological damage to 
humans. Concern about mercury contamination has prompted 44 
states to issue fish consumption advisories for mercury. 
Ecological conditions play a significant role in the creation 
of mercury hotspots, scientists explained Tuesday at a press 
briefing in Washington DC. 
Some watersheds are more sensitive to mercury pollution 
because of ecological impacts from acid rain, such as the 
hotspots found in the Adirondack Mountains and in Nova Scotia. 
In addition, both areas have shallow soils that facilitate the 
transfer of mercury to surface waters and contain extensive 
wetlands that promote conversion to methyl mercury. 
Reservoirs where water flows are raised and lowered for power 
production and other purposes also appear to be particularly 
vulnerable to becoming biological mercury hotspots, as 
evidenced by analysis of reservoirs in New Hampshire and 
Maine. 
Water fluctuations in the reservoirs provide prime conditions 
for the bacteria that produce methyl mercury, the researchers 
said. 
Analysis of mercury deposition patterns around the hotspot in 
southern New Hampshire and northeastern Massachusetts found 
that local emission sources - four coal-fired power plants - 
contribute 65 percent of the mercury deposited in the 
environment. 
Public Service New Hampshire's Merrimack coal-fired power 
plant is one of those in the southern part of the state. 
(Photo courtesy PSNH) 
The researchers estimated the mercury deposition in this 
hotspot is 10 to 20 times higher than pre-industrial 
conditions and five times higher than EPA estimates. 
"Our modeling results support a growing body of evidence that 
a significant fraction of the mercury emitted from coal-fired 
power plants in the U.S. is deposited in the area surrounding 
the plants," said Thomas Holsen, a civil and environmental 
engineering professor at Clarkson University in New York and 
co-author of the studies. 
The new research contradicts the Bush administration’s 
contention that mercury deposition and contamination is driven 
by global emissions of the toxic metal – a major reason cited 
by officials when they finalized the mercury emissions trading 
program in March 2005. 
Set to take effect in 2010, the cap-and-trade plan aims to cut 
mercury emissions from power plants by some 70 percent by 
2025. 
The plan allows some plants to purchase credits instead of 
cutting emissions. Opponents contend this will create local 
hotspots of mercury pollution, but EPA officials have 
downplayed their concern. More than a dozen states have filed 
suit to block the regulations. 
And at least 24 of 30 states that have formally responded to 
the rule have called for more stringent cuts and many have 
called for no mercury emissions trading within their borders, 
according to HBRF’s Kathy Fallon Lambert, a study coauthor. 
"These studies validate state concerns about hotspots," she 
told reporters. "EPA is underestimating local deposition and 
projecting a future based on incomplete information." 
Senator Susan Collins of Maine says Congress should act 
quickly on the mercury issue. (Photo courtesy Office of the 
Senator) 
The findings of the studies grabbed the attention of Senator 
Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, who announced today that 
she will introduce legislation to cut mercury emissions by 90 
percent and to create a nationwide network to monitor mercury 
contamination. 
"I have long-argued that EPA used faulty science in order to 
justify an insufficient mercury rule, and these studies prove 
it," Collins said. 
EPA Deputy Press Secretary Jessica Emond defended the mercury 
rule, noting that it makes the United States "the first nation 
in the world to regulate mercury emissions from coal-fired 
power plants." 
Emond added the agency is "currently working to establish a 
coordinated, nationwide network of atmospheric mercury 
monitoring sites for estimating dry deposition."