Article published Nov 4, 2007

Coming mercury emission controls a source of contention

By KARL PUCKETT

Tribune Staff Writer

Mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants in Montana — which average about 950 pounds a year — could drop by more than half if plant owners comply with the stricter mercury control standards that take effect in 2010.

To Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center, that's a big "if."

"The rule is going to come down to implementation," she said.

Gordon Criswell, the environmental manger of the four coal-fired units at Colstrip, which emit the most mercury in the state, said tens of millions of dollars will be spent retrofitting those power plants with mercury controls that will reduce the pollutant by 85 to 90 percent.

"It's something we're going to comply with," he said.

The new mercury rule for coal-fired facilities in Montana was adopted by the Montana Board of Environmental Review in 2006 and goes into effect in 2010.

Mercury emissions are not currently regulated.

The new state regulation will limit emissions for plants that burn lignite, a lower-grade coal, to 1.5 pounds of mercury per trillion British Thermal Units generated on a rolling average. The rule for all other types of mercury-emitting generating units will be 0.9 pounds per trillion BTU. A BTU is the amount of energy needed to heat one pound of water one degree.

"This is a fairly strict limit," said Dave Klemp of the state Department of Environmental Quality.

Not strict enough for some.

Hedges called the new rule a "giveaway to lignite." She said she hopes the DEQ implements it in a way that doesn't allow companies to slip through the cracks.

"If DEQ strictly enforces the rule, it's not bad — for nonlignite," Hedges said. "It's still weak for lignite."

The new state regulation was passed in response to an airborne mercury rule authorized by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The four coal-fired Colstrip units, which produce 2,326 megawatts of power, emit an estimated 852 pounds of mercury combined annually, according to the DEQ.

Criswell said the company is testing different kinds of mercury technologies.

"Because of the low levels of mercury you are trying to control, the technologies are just now being developed, and the costs are high," he said.

Statewide, Montana's coal-fired facilities are releasing an estimated 938 pounds of mercury a year, according to the DEQ. After the new rule goes into effect, the total mercury emissions are expected to drop to around 200 pounds annually.

However, other coal-fired plants are in the planning stages. If they are approved and constructed, mercury emissions could climb back up to 291 pounds a year. Highwood Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant proposed east of Great Falls, would be permitted to emit about 20 pounds of mercury a year.

The closed lead smelter in East Helena, which is owned by Asarco, released 3,273 pounds of mercury in 2000 and 769 pounds of mercury in 2001, its final year of operation.

The refinery in Great Falls didn't report any mercury emissions from 2000 to 2004, according to the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory. The report says the refinery released 30 pounds of mercury in 2005.

Mercury also is found in several products, including some foods. Women's Voices for the Earth, a Missoula-based group, is working to educate the public about those products. Those containing mercury include some thermostats, dental fillings and florescent lights. One food known to sometimes contain mercury is fish.

Erin Thompson, campaign organizer for Women's Voices, said women, particularly those who are pregnant or are thinking about becoming pregnant, need to be aware of those products.

"You store the mercury in the fat, and then it's passed along to a developing child and they absorb it into their developing brain," she said.

The group backed a bill in the 2007 Legislature restricting the sale of mercury-containing products in Montana, but it failed.

In Western Montana, the group is working with dentists on installing systems that would filter out mercury in the water that's disposed of. Mercury gets in the water when patients' with fillings containing mercury wash out their mouths.

Ultimately, the mercury ends up in the wastewater treatment plant and eventually rivers, Thompson said.