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Great Lakes Pollution Prevention and Toxics Reduction |  |
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Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy
Implementation Meeting
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Current Mercury Release Estimates (Kg / Yr.) |
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| Municipal Sector | |
| Water Pollution Control Plants (discharge) | 550 |
| Sewage Sludge (incineration) | 148 |
| Municipal Solid Waste (Incineration) | 400 |
| Municipal Waste Sites (landfill gas) | 50 |
| Medical Waste (Incineration) | 92 |
| Cremation | 62 |
| Hazardous/Commercial Waste (incineration) | 86 |
| Fuel Combustion Sector | |
| Thermal Power Generation | 404 |
| Stationary Sources (industrial coal/oil combustion) | 304 |
| Industrial Sector | |
| Iron and Steel | 645 |
| Mining and Smelting | 36 |
| Chemical Manufacturing | 141 |
| Cement Manufacture | 85 |
| Lighting Manufacture | 60 |
| Other | 16 |
| Total | 3,101 Kg |
| 2,294 Kg. (air) 724 Kg. (water) |
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U.S Estimates
Workgroup Discussion on Inventories
What is the significance of water releases relative to
air emissions?
U.S. estimates indicate that water releases are relatively small, and current estimates are based on measurements of uncertain quality.
The problems associated with quantifying the amount of mercury in water releases include variable test methods, inadequate detection limits, and validity of data sets and sampling Cain estimates that the U.S. Great Lakes region has only 300-400 pounds of mercury water releases per year (air emissions nationally are greater than 300,000 pounds per year). Minnesota estimates their state-wide mercury releases to water to be 35 pounds per year. Ohio's mercury inventory is comprised of 96 percent air emissions and 4 percent water releases.
The Canadian estimate for discharges from Water Pollution Control Plants (550 Kg) seems high by comparison. This value does not include mercury in wastewater sludges and because of the difficulty in measuring mercury in a wastewater treatment plant's effluent this value is based from measurements in the plant's influent. The value is based on a survey of 17 plants in Ontario, and therefore, is believed to be of fairly good confidence. However, a number of people in the workgroup questioned the validity of this number.
Additional issues that need to be addressed are the handling of
sludge and making sure that inventories measure actual emissions and
releases, not permitted allowables.
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In Cain's overhead AMercury Emissions: Achieving 50%
Reductions, what is other boilers?
Leonard thinks other boilers should be changed to emissions from other coal uses, and this would primarily be the iron and steel industry. Even though the numbers that were developed for other boilers are from the Mercury Study Report to Congress, Leonard thinks they are very soft. The iron and steel industry has become more energy-efficient in recent years, and the coal use in industrial boilers is small relative to that of utilities.
[Note: according to the Report to Congress utility boiler emissions were 51.8 short tons/year in 1994-1995, of which 51.6 tons resulted from coal combustion. By contrast, commercial/industrial boilers emitted an estimated 28.4 tons, of which 20.7 tons was from coal combustion and 7.7 tons from oil combustion; emissions from natural gas combustion were not estimated because A reliable emission factor does not exist. Estimated emissions are higher per unit of fuel combusted for commercial/industrial boilers than for industrial boilers because commercial/industrial boilers are assumed to use unwashed coal and to have no control devices. In addition, residential boilers emitted an estimated 3.6 tons and wood-fired boilers 0.2 tons. By product coke production for the iron and steel industry is listed as a mercury source, but there was insufficient information to estimate emissions.--Cain]
How is the workgroup going to update inventories and report progress towards commitments to the entire workgroup?
U.S. side - Cain plans to send a memo to the workgroup this summer and yearly afterwards. An annual meeting will be used to discuss and critique the inventories and progress.
Canadian side - Krauel plans a very similar approach for Canada. Krauel adds that the prompt sharing of information would help the refinement process. This could possibly be done through the website and listserver that will be established as part of the entire BNS group
Other Inventory Issues
It was suggested by a participant that a sub-group could be
established to resolve inventory issues in order to develop the best
possible inventory.
Alternatively the workgroup could possibly go straight to the source sectors and ask them what their inventories are and what quantities of reductions they could possibly achieve (similar to what Michigan has done).
Various participants recommended that we should really focus on what actions and activities that would reduce mercury use and emissions, rather than go back and forth about inventory issues. It was generally felt that the inventories were sufficiently well defined to undertake work under the other steps of the BNS analytical framework . Refinements to the inventory would be reported to the workgroup.
Canadian Programs
Reduction Achieved to date
Comparing current releases to the 1988 baseline a 25% reduction
has been achieved. By the end of 1998, Canada expects a 40%
reduction from their base year inventory, as a result of air release
reductions from mining, smelting, and the base metals program.
Since 1988 most reductions have occurred as a result of voluntary
reduction efforts such as those conducted under the Canada - Ontario
Agreement (COA) and the Accelerated Reduction / Elimination of
Toxics (ARET) program .
Other voluntary programs include Pollution Probe’s Mercury
Elimination and Reduction (MERC) project in which several hospitals
are participating.
Mercury has been eliminated from such products as household batteries and paints. The amount of mercury in fluorescent lamps has steadily decreased since 1985. Close to a 70% reduction from 1985 content has been achieved in some lamps.
Regulatory Activity
In Canada jurisdiction with respect to the environment is shared
between the federal and provincial governments.
Federal regulations pertaining to Chlor-Alkali plants do exist
however there are no longer any Hg-cell plants operating in Ontario.
Another pertinent federal process is the Strategic Options Process (SOP). The Strategic Options process is a process to establish with key stakeholders the best methods to manage substances that have been declared toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). Voluntary action, information gathering, market-based measures and mandatory pollution reduction measures are all possible strategies the Issue Table considers. Issue Tables pertinent to mercury include the Electric Power Generation Sector, Steel Manufacturing and Base Metals Smelting.
Provincial regulatory control instruments for point sources
includes setting of general air emission standards under the Ontario
Environmental Protection Act and facility based discharge / emission
specification as contained in Certificates of Approval, Control
Orders and other provincial legal instruments
U. S. Programs
Reduction Achieved to date
In summary: The U.S. had 1990/1993 baseline mercury emissions of
221 tons per year. By the year 1994/1995, U.S. mercury emissions
dropped to 158 tons per year. The majority of these mercury
reductions came from early compliance of the upcoming MWCs and MWIs
regulations and reduced inputs of mercury to these sources.
From 1995-1996, the U.S. has seen a 15 reduction in the use of
mercury, with most of these reductions occurring in wiring devices
and switches. Even before this time frame, the U.S. saw significant
reductions in the uses of mercury because of regulations banning
mercury from most batteries and paints. Current U.S. uses of mercury
are 372 tons per year (1996), with chlorine and caustic
manufacturing accounting for 36 percent of that value.
Regulatory Programs
U.S regulatory programs are described in the handout, "Mercury:
A Brief for the Binational Strategy implementation Workgroup",
provided by Alexis Cain.
Workgroup Discussion
Thermal power generation
Until recently approximately 60% of Ontario’s electric power
came from nuclear reactors; However, 7 nuclear reactors have
recently or will soon be laid up , and the burden of power
generation on the coal-fired utilities is expected to increase until
the nuclear units come back on line ( expected in year 2000 ).
Presently, 17% of Ontario's power comes from 6 fossil fuel stations
including 5 coal-fired plants.
Just as in Canada, the U.S. also has the potential for increased
mercury emissions from utilities and other coal-fired boilers as a
result of growth and utility deregulation. However, there is also a
potential for decreased mercury emissions from these same sources
through controls required for other pollutants.
Has anyone done a comparison of the technologies being employed
at U.S. and Canadian utilities? (e.g. percent scrubbers, percent
ESPs, percent SCR, etc.) - Maybe a comparison of the coals used at
both countries utilities would be useful as well?
What is the expectation of the workgroup for addressing utilities?
Other suggestions on why and how utilities should be included as part of the workgroup's focus:
The U.S. 2006 challenge for mercury emissions is approximately equal to the current emissions from utilities and other boilers.
For more information, ask John for a copy of the 3-page fact sheet that details MN laws and programs.
Minnesota has a comprehensive set of laws, which regulate the sale, use, distribution, release, etc. of mercury. These laws were drafted beginning in 1990 because of Minnesota's large scale shift to municipal waste combustors (approximately 2 of MN's waste is incinerated). These laws include the prohibition of disposal of batteries, packaging, fungicides, paints, inks, dies, etc that contain mercury in wastewater or the waste stream. MN has household hazardous waste facilities to collect these materials. MN also has manufacture responsibility laws and bans on the sale and use of mercury in toys, games, apparel and dairy barn manometers.
MN estimates that they have 40-50 metric tons of mercury in use.
Hospitals, dental offices and organizations, and HVAC contractors
are among the partners in MN State programs.
Currently, MN main program targeting mercury reductions is the
Contamination Reduction Initiative. Carol Andrews of MPCA is
leading this program. She can be contacted at (612) 297-8333 or
carol.andrews@pca.state.mn.us. The goals of the Initiative are to
achieve significant reductions of contaminants, to achieve these
reductions in a cost-effective manner, and to include a broad host
of stakeholders, through an Advisory Group (open process).
MN has reduced mercury emissions from incinerators from 400-700 mg/m3 to below 100 mg/m3, which helped achieve a state-wide 67% reduction in mercury releases. However, much of the other sources have remained constant. The Initiative is targeting reductions from these other sources. The Initiative is structured in 3 phases. Phase 1 will attempt to gather as much information as possible about mercury releases and emissions. Phase 2 will evaluate the various strategies available to control the emissions and releases of mercury from these sources. And Phase 3 will provide final recommendations to MN. It is expected that this process will be completed by the end of October.
The Advisory Group has listened to a number of speakers on the health effects of mercury, economics of mercury controls, and the atmospheric deposition of mercury. From these informative discussions the following has been concluded:
The Initiative has established subgroups to focus on pollution prevention in products and waste, utilities, and taconite (a low-grade iron ore body, which is considered a fairly significant source of mercury).
MN has also achieved significant reductions in mercury releases
from POTWs. In 1990, effluent concentrations were 600ppt and now
they are 10ppt.
Has any modeling been performed to see what affects achieving the
challenges set in the BNS would have on the water quality/fish
concentrations in the Great Lakes? (That is are the challenges set
out in the BNS going to get us there or is too much mercury coming
from global sources?)
Models are being developed to address this type of question, but have not yet been applied to this specific question. EPRI has done considerable modelling, summarized in a recent report .
Indiana has taken the thermostat recycling program a step further than MN and Honeywell. IN has asked all HVAC contractors to sign a pledge committing them to implementing the mercury thermostat reduction and recycling program. The pledge says that the contractors will educate the public on the use of mercury thermostats, promote the use of non-mercury thermostats, and recycle mercury thermostats. The pledge does NOT prohibit the contractors from selling mercury thermostats.
The program, which is currently a 2 year old, has signed on 80 contractors to the pledge. Most of these contractors are locate in central IN, and the program is currently in the process of expanding the program into NW IN.
Refer to the handout, Mercury Thermostat Reduction and Recycling Program, supplied at the meeting, for a listing of the contractors signed onto the pledge.
Please refer to the Michigan Mercury Pollution Prevention (M2P2) Task Force Final Report published in April 1996, the M2P2 Final Plan Implementation Strategy endorsed in February 1997, and the M2P2 Implementation Progress Report (April 1998) for more information. These 3 reports can be accessed on the internet at:
http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3585_4127_4175-11697--,00.html
The M2P2 Task Force has divided into 7 sector-specific subgroups: automotive, health care, dental, chemical manufacturing, electrical manufacturing, the general public, and utilities.
The Task Force has developed a MercConcern brochure to educate the general public on the concerns of mercury impacts. The brochure is similar to Wisconsin's MercAlert brochure. Michigan has distributed 15,000 copies of their brochure. They have also worked with their 3 major universities to make sure that their mercury products and equipment is handled properly.
The Task Force is also trying to educate some of their minority communities on the hazards of mercury ritual usage. Some cultures (e.g. Hispanics and Puerto Ricans) believe that sprinkling mercury on themselves, their homes, their cars, etc will bring them good luck. Michigan has been able to identify 3 Hispanic gift shops in the Detroit area that sell small vials of mercury.
The Task Force has also developed the brochure: The Case Against Mercury: Rx for Pollution Prevention. The brochure is only one piece in the Task Force's efforts to better educate hospitals and health care facilities on mercury-containing products and cost-effective mercury-free alternatives. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the State Hospital Association have also sent a joint letter to all the hospitals in the State promoting these mercury reduction efforts.
The Task Force's automotive subgroup recently held a workshop with the Big Three Automakers to assess the amount of mercury in automobiles. Through the workshop, it was found that approximately 10 tons of mercury are installed in automobiles each year (primarily switches). The Big Three have signed an agreement committing themselves to do all they could to reduce the amount of mercury being put into automobiles, including elimination of switches used in convenience lighting. The subgroup is also working with the Society of Automotive Engineers to develop a switch removal program.
The Task Force's utilities subgroup is formulating a strategy to reduce the mercury use and emissions from utilities. The Consumers Energy facilities alone have 3000 pounds of mercury in use, which they are in the process of phasing out. The utilities in Michigan have to report their mercury emissions to the MDEQ and Public Service Commission each year. Over the last few years, mercury emissions from utilities have been increasing.
With the involvement of the Michigan Dental Association, over 1400 pounds of mercury have been collected from dental offices. Most of the mercury collected was leftover supplies previously used for amalgam fillings.
Michigan estimates that in 1994 they had between 8,000-10,000 pounds of mercury emitted to the air and 3,800 pounds of mercury discarded with municipal and solid wastes. An additional estimated 200-1800 pounds of mercury is discharged to wastewater treatment plants or to surface waters or ground waters of the State.
Consumers Energy performed top to bottom mercury inventory analyses at all their facilities. Consumers was surprised to find that their use of mercury exceeded their stack emissions by several times. They found old jars full of mercury sitting on shelves and a number of mercury gas regulators. Since they performed the analyses, Consumers has reduced about 400 pounds of mercury from their facilities. Consumers is also working with their customers, both residential and industrial, to help them reduce mercury usage.
Detroit Edison performed much of the same analyses as Consumers Energy. Detroit Edison found some old manometers containing over 100 pounds of mercury. Through this process, Detroit Edison has been able to phase out a lot of their older mercury-containing equipment.
In Ontario there are a number of federal and provincial activities targeting mercury reductions. A number of these activities are listed below.
In the short term the Provincial regulatory reform which is currently underway in Ontario makes it difficult to develop any new regulatory initiatives for reducing mercury uses and emissions. However, however some reforms such as those related hazardous waste management will help in the establishment of recycling and take back programs. There are some sectors such as the Electric Power Generation sector where mercury emissions are expected to increase for a period of two to three years.
There is a Straegic Options Process (SOP) initiative in Canada which addresses three sectors pertinent to mercury emissions. These three sectors are Electric Power Generation , Iron and Steel, and Base Metal Smelting. Some incidental mercury reductions will occur as a result of controls on particulate matter.
Canada has signed a harmonization accord between federal and provincial environmental agencies in the country . One of the goals of the accord is to eliminate the duplication of efforts among the provinces and the federal government. The accord is also trying to harmonize standards in Canada. Mercury has been identified as one of the priority substances for which national standards (Canada Wide Standards) will be developed. The goal would be to establish national emission and product standards that would be implemented at the most effective level of government.
In an effort to integrate the number of efforts in Ontario addressing mercury, Ontario is drafting a mercury reduction plan. This new plan will attempt to deliver on the challenges of COA and the BNS through 2005, and include a long-term strategy element for after 2005.
Another concern which has been identified by some stakeholders in Ontario is the upcoming privatization of utilities, and the ability of consumers to choose their electricity supplier. This may result in cheaper power supplies (but greater mercury emissions) from outside Ontario.
Has Canada looked at the mercury levels in their base ores?
The emissions of mercury from Ontario smelters are low (mercury level in the ores is considered to be low).
The WLSSD received a grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to work in partnership with each State's waste manager and dental association in order to reduce/eliminate mercury from dental offices. Ontario Dental Association is involved in the project as well. These efforts will build from similar efforts in Minnesota and Michigan. The state dental associations are excited about the project, which will begin in the fall.
The Council of Great Lakes Industries (CGLI) was established to address a number of issues (economic, environmental, etc.) concerning the industries of the Great Lakes region. CGLI currently has a project funded by Environment Canada and the EPA to inform the industries of the Great Lakes region on the BNS. CGLI held an initial workshop to gather an understanding of each industries' activities related to mercury. From this workshop, CGLI will publish a report detailing the activities underway at electrical utilities, battery manufacturers, light manufacturers, chlor-alkali plants, pulp and paper mills, portland cement facilities, MWCs, MWIs, and mining operations. This report should be available next September. CGLI is also looking at mercury reductions from other industries and additional reductions achieved by the industries mentioned above.
Where is mercury present in the production of portland cement?
Mercury is present in the raw materials of portland cement (e.g. limestone). Some of the portland cement plants also burn hazardous waste, which may contain mercury.
The Chlorine Institute, a trade association, has been tracking and supporting the development of the BNTS. The Institute has established a working committee and 7 task forces to look into potential reductions in mercury use and release. The Institute has also had 2 meetings with the EPA. In July 1997, the Institute committed to a 50% reduction in the use of mercury and has since then looked at how they can achieve additional reductions. The baseline mercury use inventory which will be used to measure the 50% reduction is an average of the uses between 1990 and 1995. The baseline value is 160 tons per year. The Institute plans to report annually on progress towards achieving of their commitment.
Should there be legislation (either federal, state, or local) requiring the chlorine industry to label how much mercury is in their caustic soda?
Parrott said he will bring this issue to the Institute.
Is there a commitment to decommissioning and providing for zero emissions from closed chlor-alkali facilities?
These are requirements of the hazardous waste rule.
When will the chlor-alkali plants be closed?
Currently, there are no commitments to close down any chlor-alkali plants. The UNECE has an obligation to have plants built after 2005 be mercury emission-free; however, there is no obligation for phase out of the existing plants.
How will reductions in mercury use correlate with reductions in mercury emissions?
EPA is in the process of developing a MACT standard for the chlorine industry. The Chlorine Institute is working closely with the EPA in the development of the standard.
There is not a lot of good data available to be able to represent what emission benefits would be seen from reductions in mercury use. THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.
Pollution Probe is a Canadian non-profit organization. Over the past 3 years Pollution Probe has worked in partnership with Environment Canada, Ontario MOE, and others in the development of the Mercury Elimination and Reduction Challenge (MERC) project. Pollution Probe held a mercury pollution prevention workshop in 1995. Pollution Probe helped develop an inventory of mercury uses, sources, releases, etc for Ontario in 1996. Some of the other workshops organized by Pollution Probe include: a health care workshop in 1997 and a May 1997 symposium in Toronto on the development of a mercury elimination and reduction strategy.
Pollution Probe was integral in the development of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the health care sector to reduce their use of mercury. They are currently in the process of expanding the MOU to involve additional hospitals in Ontario and Atlantic Canada. In addition to the health care sector MOU, Pollution Probe also helped establish a MOU with the electrical products sector.
Pollution Probe is also preparing a brief report on current Canadian government and corporate mercury initiatives, working on the Mercury Book, and assisting in the development of Canada's mercury strategy.
NWF wants to identify future projects that can be implemented to achieve additional mercury reductions. NWF also would like to see as an outcome to this meeting a list of people held accountable and responsible for moving the BNS mercury workgroup forward.
NWF has developed a number of publications regarding the impacts of mercury uses including mercury pollution prevention in hospitals (published in August 1997) and mercury pollution prevention in wastewater treatment plants (published March 1998). The mercury P2 publication for wastewater treatment plants creates a mechanism for community involvement in meeting the standards of the Great Lakes Initiative (GLI). NWF currently has a grant to publicize the mercury reduction efforts of approximately 24 hospitals.
Leonardo Academy is an energy and environmental organization. The Academy is working with MN in the development of a regional mercury strategy. The Academy recruited other States in the Great Lakes region to establish the Committee of States. The Academy also worked on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Project in Wisconsin. The Academy is now working on cost-benefit analyses for emission reduction trade-offs. This analyses will help identify residential and commercial interests in green power.
The Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) is a sister network of the
National Atmospheric Deposition Program. The MDN, which consists of
approximately 40 sites nation-wide, measures the weekly
concentrations of total mercury in precipitation. This data is used
to determine the seasonal and annual flux of total mercury in wet
deposition. Analyses of all the precipitation samples are performed
by Frontier Geosciences. The MDN only measures total mercury but at
a few sites, if the individual sponsor so chooses, methyl-mercury
will be measured in the rainfall.
Each site of the MDN is individually-sponsored and costs
approximately $12,000 per year to operate (the first year cost is
approximately $16,000). The first year of data collected from the
network, 1996, will be available in April 1998 on the MDN's website:
The Pollution Prevention Partnership has worked jointly with WDNR in the development of a community mercury project. There are 3 aspects of this program.
This program has also focused on reduction efforts from hospitals, dental offices, schools, and thermostat primarily using the materials developed from others' programs (e.g. MN, MI, Duluth). This program is also developing a curriculum for High Schools to educate them on the uses and hazards of mercury.
Please refer to the brochures handed out at the workgroup meeting, entitled, "Fluorescent Lamps and the Environment", for details on NEMA's efforts to reduce mercury
Mercury workgroup functions
Potential mercury workgroup projects
Working Group Infrastructure
Breakdown of Topic Areas
In between face-to-face meetings of the entire workgroup, important tasks could be defined in conference calls focussing on specific topics. Progress on these tasks would then be reported at the workgroup meetings.
The following potential topics were identified during this discussion:
There was a general agreement among the workgroup that for the next year or so, the number of topics should be limited to 3-4. Utilities, products/recycling, medical/dental, mining/metals, public outreach/education and the chlor-alkali industry were suggested as focus topics.
Slicing up the workgroup into a number of subgroups could stretch the resources of environmental groups. Therefore, rather than divide into separate groups, topics will be covered at conference calls every couple of months by whatever portion of the group is interested in that topic.
Who is Missing from the Workgroup?
Other Issues Identified During this Discussion
Proposals and Recommendations
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