September 9, 2004

Water quality sparks debate

Coal-fired plants blamed for high mercury level in W.Va. streams

By JIM ROSS - The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON -- The debate over the environmental safety of coal-fired power plants came to Huntington on Wednesday.

Spokespersons for environmental groups said mercury emissions from the power plants are the single biggest reason many fish from lakes and rivers in the Ohio Valley are not fit to eat. The mercury in the environment poses health dangers to unborn children, they said.

And they said 90 percent of the mercury could be removed at the smokestack by using inexpensive, existing technology.

Not true about the 90 percent, says American Electric Power, which owns several coal-fired plants in this area.

The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition discussed mercury at a meeting at the A.D. Lewis Center in Huntington. Paul Hutter, of the Clear the Air environmental group, said the question before the federal government is how to reduce mercury emissions.

Mercury is released into the air when coal is burned. It gets into water and soil after rain.

The Bush administration wants to reduce overall emissions by 70 percent by 2018, Hutter said. Some people want a 90 percent reduction by 2008 using available technology, he said.

"Its clear that the Bush administration is appeasing the corporate interests that contribute to his campaign, because we know 90 percent can be done," Hutter said.

"I do not know where Sen. Kerry stands," he said.

Libby Callicoat of Huntington said she will give birth to her first child in about 11 weeks. She said mercury contamination "has been a dark cloud hanging over each developing fetus and young child."

"The National Academy of Sciences has estimated that about 60,000 children may be born in the U.S. every year with neurological problems due to their in-utero mercury exposure," she said.

Jim Doss of Gallipolis, Ohio, who is president of the Ohio BASS Chapter Federation, said he favors the 90 percent reduction.

Jack Shaner, public affairs director of the Ohio Environmental Council, said he did not know how much utilities would have to spend to remove 90 percent of mercury emissions.

"It aint cheap. Itll be millions of dollars," he said, adding that such a sum would still be less than 1 percent of utilities operating revenues.

A new report analyzing recent data from the Environmental Protection Agency finds that every lake, river and stream in West Virginia and Ohio is likely contaminated with mercury pollution. Several of the most popular sport fish contained mercury levels that exceed the EPAs safe limit for women of childbearing age. Predator fish, such as smallmouth bass, walleye, largemouth bass, lake trout and Northern pike, had the highest mercury concentrations.

Pat Hemlepp, director of corporate media relations for American Electric Power, said AEP knows of no proven technology that would reduce power plants mercury emissions by 90 percent.

"These groups are very good at coming out and making claims like that, but we have yet to see them point to any specific technology that works on large power plants," Hemlepp said when contacted after the OVEC meeting.

"They also talk about how it can be done for very little money, but they never put out a dollar amount on what they consider very little. We announced earlier this year that we will be investing $3.5 billion in our power plants through the end of the decade to meet current and future environmental regulations."

That includes mercury reductions as proposed by President Bush, he said.

Shaner and Hutter said power plants have reduced their mercury emissions while they have had to reduce other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxide. Hemlepp made the same point.

"The amount of mercury emissions will continue to decline through the end of the decade," he said.