Florida battles the EPA as the mercury rises

Florida officials battle EPA over mercury emissions planMore warnings Goods news for the Everglades


In the April 1 letter to the EPA to withdraw the proposed rule, the senators pointed to a 2003 study in Florida that showed drops in mercury emissions reduced the amount of mercury making its way into Everglades fish and birds.

While South Florida has no coal-fired power plants, the Everglades fell victim to large mercury emissions from municipal and medical waste incinerators in decades past. Scientists say South Florida relied on waste incinerators because the soggy land meant landfills weren't feasible.

"When we found mercury in fish and wildlife in the late '80s, it hit the news like a bombshell. At that time, there really wasn't much known on why mercury would be in the Everglades," said Tom Atkeson, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's mercury coordinator since 1992 and one of the study's authors.

The multi-agency study compared mercury levels in fish and birds in the Everglades before pollution controls were installed on incinerators to levels after pollution controls were installed and showed mercury concentration in fish and birds dropped 60 to 70 percent in the last decade.Mercury emissions from incinerators in South Florida, once the largest source of mercury emissions in the region, have dropped 99 percent since the mid-1980s because of pollution control policies adopted since then, the study reports.

No waste incinerators have been permitted in Florida since the Lee County plant, which burns garbage to produce electricity, began operating in 1994, state officials said.

An expansion to the Lee plant slated to open in late 2006 is the only waste-to-energy facility permitted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection since the original plant opened, state officials said.

The expansion will be allowed to produce .0168 pounds of mercury per hour, said Al Linero, a Florida DEP engineer. He said the plant is likely allowed .0336 pounds of mercury per hour in current operations.

While the Lee trash-burning plant does add mercury to the Everglades, scientists say it's about as clean as incineration can get.

"When it was built, it was the cleanest facility in the country by far that served to set the floor for everybody else. This may be looking at the world with rosy glasses but, yes, it's going to be adding some mercury but it's also quite a clean facility," Atkeson said.

Despite good news about the Everglades' lowered mercury levels, Davis of The Conservancy said Everglades fish have a long way to go before the mercury levels are safe for eating.

"You talk about encouraging recreation in the Everglades but sportsmen can't eat the fish ... which is a shame," he said.

Link to Naples Daily News