Kaine amends mercury trading bill to add stronger mercury protections

Charlottesville – Clean air advocates and environmentalists are praising Gov. Kaine for amending recently passed mercury trading legislation – HB 1055 and SB 651 – to add stronger mercury protections. The amendment offered by the Governor will require the Mirant Corporation to actually reduce mercury emissions locally instead of purchasing pollution credits from anywhere across the country, even as far away as Alaska or Hawaii.

“We commend Governor Kaine for recognizing the seriousness of mercury contamination in Virginia,” said Cale Jaffe, Staff Attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center which had advocated for the amendment. “This is an important, symbolic victory because it shows that the Governor appreciates the need for reducing mercury emissions locally without relying on a nationwide cap-and-trade program. We look forward to working with the Governor in the coming years to develop meaningful mercury protections for the populations most acutely affected by mercury contamination – young children and women of childbearing age.”

The original legislation, passed in March, requires the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt a flawed and ineffective federal rule that fails to adequately control toxic mercury pollution. This federal rule, which is being legally challenged by various states’ attorneys general, and national environmental and public health groups in federal court, would allow industries to buy pollution “credits” instead of installing equipment to reduce mercury.

The original legislation also codified Dominion Power’s and Appalachian Power’s existing plans to comply with the federal rule but required nothing of Mirant. With Kaine’s amendment, Mirant will either have to install mercury controls at its Potomac River Generating Station in Alexandria, or at nearby Mirant power plants in Maryland. Mirant’s Alexandria plant is a notoriously dirty and decrepit facility. It remains on the Department of Environmental Quality’s high priority violator list for past Clean Air Act violations.

Mary Harris, a member of the North Old Town Independent Citizens civic association (NOTICe), lives within 600 feet of Mirant’s outdated coal-fired facility. She stated, “I am pleased to see that Governor Kaine recognizes the importance of making sure that all electric generators reduce toxic emissions of mercury more locally. This is important to Alexandria families and to the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.”

In addition to closing the Mirant loophole, SELC has advocated for a 90 percent reduction in mercury pollution from all power plants and other industrial sources within the state, and an absolute prohibition on mercury trading, recognizing that the Clean Air Act does not allow the trading of toxics. SELC will continue to work with partner groups to further strengthen Virginia’s mercury regulations.

Fish from hundreds of miles of Virginia rivers are unsafe to eat because they contain high levels of toxic mercury. The Virginia Department of Health now warns pregnant women and children to avoid eating any of these fish because of the frightening link between mercury pollution and developmental and learning disabilities, including lowered IQ, decreased motor skills, and lowered intelligence.

Mercury pollution poses a threat to Virginia's economy as well. In recent years, Virginia’s commercial watermen landed seafood valued at more than $170 million and recreational fishing supported more than 10,000 Virginia jobs, led to $604 million in retail sales, and $11.5 million in state tax collections.

A substantial body of scientific evidence demonstrates that mercury emitted from power plants and other air emission sources deposits locally, close to the source. In particular, a study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the Chesapeake Bay found that industrial pollution sources within sixty miles of the Bay were responsible for the majority of mercury contamination in the Bay.