Greenwire
2.23.06
MERCURY: Ga. proposes 80 percent emissions cut by 2010
Daniel Cusick
Georgia became the sixth state yesterday to propose restrictions on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants that exceed those required by federal law.
Under the proposal by the state's Environmental Protection Division, Georgia would opt out of U.S. EPA's cap-and-trade program for coal-fired power plants and instead seek across-the-board mercury capture of between 80 and 85 percent by 2010 and 90 percent by 2015.
The Bush administration issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) last year that calls for a 70 percent reduction in mercury emissions by 2018.
Current nationwide mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants are estimated at 48 tons annually.
Four states -- Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Wisconsin -- already have more stringent mercury rules than EPA's. Yesterday Pennsylvania announced that it would pursue tougher regulations as well.
In a notice issued yesterday, Georgia regulators said they would accept public comments on both the state and federal reduction plans. But, they added, the state proposal "would reliably reduce emissions sooner and more deeply than CAMR to accelerate and enhance protection of public health" and can be implemented "at an affordable cost and without jeopardizing electric reliability."
The push for tighter mercury regulation stems in part from findings of "substantial evidence of unsafe mercury levels in water and fish in many Georgia watersheds," the notice stated.
Colleen Kiernan of the Sierra Club commended the state proposal, noting that it "shows leadership in protecting Georgia women and children" from mercury poisoning. The Sierra Club cited statistics from a recent hair-sampling study by the University of North Carolina-Asheville which showed that 17 percent of Georgia women have dangerous levels of mercury in their blood.
If adopted, Georgia's coal-fired electric utilities would have to invest significantly more in pollution control equipment targeting mercury. In 2004, the state's coal-fired plants emitted 1.89 tons of mercury, according to EPD figures. Under the new state proposal, emissions could not exceed 1.23 tons per year between 2010 and 2017, tightening to 0.48 tons of allowed mercury per year after 2018.
The state law would apply to all coal-fired units of 25 megawatts or greater. Georgia is a heavy user of coal to generate electricity. Its predominant utility, Georgia Power, operates 29 coal-fired units in eight plants.
Carol Boatright, a Georgia Power spokesperson, said company officials were still reviewing the state proposal but that the utility remains squarely behind the federal mercury rule. "The EPA has spent a number of years researching it and we feel that their rule is the proper one," Boatright said.
While Georgia Power and its parent Southern Co. have been criticized by some for being slow in responding to mercury concerns, the utility has done more research on pollution controls for mercury than almost any of its peers.
Among other things, Southern Co. spearheaded construction of the Gulf Power Mercury Research Center in Pensacola, Fla., where various technologies -- ranging from carbon injection to chemical catalysts -- are being refined for commercial-scale application (E&ENews PM, Dec. 2, 2005). The company is also helping develop a "coal gasification" power plant in Orlando that will release substantially less mercury than conventional plants (see related story).
