Mercury Poisoning: Fishing for Answers

by Becky Evans

WASHINGTON - When he was 9 years old, Jim Simmons fished for his dinner in Turner Pond, which straddles the Dartmouth-New Bedford line. Each night, his mother would fry the catfish he caught after school.

Forty-six years later, there are no more fish in the pond worth catching. "All the fish - perch and sunfish -- they're all gone. The only thing left are eels and turtles," Mr. Simmons said in a recent interview. "You can't even catch catfish because there are such high levels of mercury."

The fish in Turner Pond and nearby lakes and streams have been contaminated by mercury emissions from the Brayton Point Station, one of the state's oldest coal-fired power plants, said Mr. Simmons, who now runs an organization that battles mercury emissions. Brayton Point Station is the largest source of industrial air pollution in New England, according to the Conservation Law Foundation.

Each year, Massachusetts' four coal-fired power plants emit an estimated 185 pounds of mercury from their smokestacks, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has reported.

Once released, mercury travels through the air and settles in bodies of water, where bacteria transform it into methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin that is absorbed by fresh and saltwater fish and passed through the food chain to people. Mr. Simmons, who is president of the Hands Across the River Coalition, wants to protect children from neurological disorders associated with eating mercury-contaminated fish.

"We have to act now to change the emissions standards," he said. "We need the help of city councilors, mayors, state representatives and state senators."

The Hands Across the River Coalition and other environmental groups have spent years trying to eliminate mercury emissions from the state's oldest power plants.

They won a victory in September when Gov. Mitt Romney and the state Department of Environmental Protection proposed regulations that would require Brayton Point Station, Somerset Station, Salem Harbor Station and Mount Tom Station in Holyoke to eliminate 85 percent of mercury emissions by 2006 and 95 percent by 2012.

Massachusetts health officials warn pregnant women, nursing mothers, women of childbearing age and young children not to eat any freshwater fish caught in the state or any shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tuna or tilefish.

The federal government doesn't go quite that far. The Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have just drafted a proposed warning adding tuna to the list of fish and shellfish that people in those categories should eat less of. A 2003 study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 8 percent of women of childbearing age had blood mercury levels above those EPA has deemed safe. The study estimated that approximately 320,000 children born in the United States each year are at risk of adverse health effects from mercury-contaminated fish.

Studies have shown that mercury exposure in children can lead to neurological damage, including attention and language deficits, impaired memory, inability to process and recall information and impaired visual and motor functions.

Parents in Fall River are concerned that mercury poisoning may be the reason behind the high number of children who have been diagnosed there with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They also worry mercury emissions could lead to increased rates of autism and dyslexia, though scientists have not drawn such conclusions.

"There is no proven link between mercury and autism and ADHD," said Dr. Jefferson H. Dickey, professor of environmental health at UMass-Amherst. "But the one thing we are learning about mercury is that it is very clearly associated with some learning disabilities."

Dr. Jeannine Audet, a developmental behavioral pediatrician at the Center for Children and Families at St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, said cases of autism and ADHD were "no more prevalent" in Fall River than in other parts of the state. But Rochelle Pettanati, who teaches art at Kuss Middle School in Fall River, said she sees the problem firsthand at school and at home.

"The number of cases of ADHD is amazing," she said. "So many children have attention problems in our schools."

Ms. Pettanati, who lives about 6 miles from Brayton Point Station, said her two sons have ADHD and many of her neighbors have been diagnosed with cancer. She said she fears that mercury emissions from the plant are responsible for the health problems in her neighborhood.

"We're thinking about moving away from the plant," she said.

Ms. Pettanati said she never knew it could be unsafe to serve her family fresh fish.

"There is a lack of education," she said. "We know lots of fishermen, and I always thought it was wonderful to get fresh fish, scallops and lobsterá. I didn't know I could be potentially harming my family. It is very upsetting."

Dave Dionne, a spokesman for the Campaign to Clean Up Brayton Point Power Plant, said many poor immigrants in Fall River supplement their diets with fish caught in local rivers and ponds.

They often are unaware of the state's fish advisories, he said.

"Fall River is not a rich communityá. This is an economic justice issue," he said. "There are no signs that I can find anywhere that say do not eat the fish, in any language."

Ms. Pettanati and Mr. Dionne recently attended a public hearing in Fall River on the Department of Environmental Protection's proposed mercury emissions regulations.

Mr. Dionne said the draft regulations are good, but he and other environmentalists are concerned about a proposed alternative--a trading system that would give more flexibility to power plants that cannot meet the 2006 deadlines. Under the plan, some plants could receive credit for reducing mercury emissions at off-site locations and for recycling mercury in thermometers and other products.

"The trading system proposed by the DEP would allow an actual emitting facility with a smokestack to trade with a potentially emitting facility like a lab or school," said Frank Gorke, an energy specialist for the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. "We think it is problematic."

Some power plants have requested more time to install expensive mercury pollution controls, said Ed Coletta, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection. The electric utilities industry opposes stricter regulations even while acknowledging that mercury emissions can harm the environment.

Robert Rio, vice president of environmental programs for Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said the state's coal-burning power plants have already made significant mercury emissions reductions. Further reductions would cost millions of dollars and would have little impact on the environment, he said.

"There is no evidence at all that removing that amount of mercury from power plants will make that much difference at all," Mr. Rio said. "The worst part about the whole thing is that most of the mercury we get here is from upwind power plants."

In 1996, the Department of Environmental Protection estimated that 59 percent of mercury emissions in Massachusetts came from out-of-state sources. Environmentalists agree that reducing mercury emissions in other states is key to protecting the health of Massachusetts residents.

"We need to be concerned about our own pollution and pollution from other states," Mr. Gorke said. "Unfortunately, the Bush administration is not helping us out at the federal level."

According to EPA documents, the Bush administration is proposing mercury regulations that are less stringent than those for other toxic air pollutants. Instead of requiring coal-fired power plants to install maximum pollution controls, Bush's "cap and trade" program would allow plants to buy and sell the right to emit mercury into the air. The market-based system, which is supported by energy producers, is modeled after a sulfur dioxide trading program designed to combat acid rain.

"We know from evidence that cap and trade programs work better than the current command and control approach," said Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a group of utilities, power companies, unions and businesses. "The trading program puts the onus on the company and gives a financial incentive to reduce pollution. That is why it works better."

Environmentalists worry that President Bush's proposal would create mercury "hot spots" around the dirtiest power plants, which could opt to pay cleaner plants to reduce emissions rather than install expensive pollution controls.

"We are very concerned about the prospect of mercury trading at the federal level," said Cindy Luppi, the New England coordinating director for Clean Water Action, an environmental advocacy group.

"Our top goal is to make sure that the families who live in the shadows of the smokestacks of the affected power plants see real relief from this pollution." Massachusetts' proposed mercury regulations should not be affected by weaker federal standards, according to Mr. Gorke. But the state's air quality could be harmed anyway, he said.

"The main reason to be concerned about what the feds are doing is that we do get some mercury in our environment from upwind sources. It could hurt our environment if the feds are relaxing requirements in Ohio and other states," he said.

Mr. Simmons said his Hands Across the River Coalition will not rest until there are zero mercury emissions from Brayton Point.

"We can't wait for the President to do something about the plant," he said. "We have to do this on our own, by lobbying our lawmakers and saying enough is enough."