Category: Sarah Shemkus
Brayton Point Ahead of Nation on Mercury Reduction
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 – Even as they decry the weakening of air quality standards nationally, environmental activists say they are winning battles on the local level.
They point to power plants like Brayton Point in Somerset, frequently called one of the country’s dirtiest, which intends to reduce its mercury emissions by more than 95 percent in the next seven years, according to Dan Genest, spokesman for Dominion Energy, which owns Brayton Point.
Such local victories are important in the wake of Tuesday’s Senate vote, which upheld a March decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that critics say weakens national air standards on mercury.
Brayton Point’s efforts are being hailed as an example of how effective modern pollution control technology can be.
“Since we can do it at Brayton, we can do it anywhere,” said Seth Kaplan of the Conservation Law Foundation, which in the past had been sharply critical of the power plant. .
Mercury, a powerful neurotoxin, settles in bodies of water and accumulates in the bodies of fish and shellfish. Over time, this build-up may reach levels that can harm the nervous systems of young children and developing fetuses.
The EPA’s March decision would cap the total amount of pollution allowed from specific plants and allow those with space under their limits to sell “credits” to dirtier plants. Kaplan called the system “totally inappropriate.”
Existing technology, Kaplan said, can create greater reductions than the EPA requires. In addition, as much as 50 percent of mercury emissions linger locally, meaning that the proposed national limit would have little effect in the areas immediately around the worst plants.
The Senate Tuesday refused to repeal the rule, killing a resolution to do so by a vote of 51-47. Senators John Kerry and Edward Kennedy both co-sponsored the resolution and voted for the measure.
“It’s a shameful rollback of the Clean Air Act to allow owners of fossil fuel power plants to avoid the expense of installing new technology to reduce dangerous emissions,” Kennedy said in a press release.
The agency defended the rule, saying it would reduce pollution.
“By reducing mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by nearly 70 percent, [the EPA will] continue our efforts to protect women and children from the health impacts of mercury,” said a statement the EPA issued after the vote.
But Brayton Point is already moving to reduce its emissions, thanks to Massachusetts’ Zero Mercury Strategy, enacted in 2000, which Dominion Energy describes as “the most stringent air quality regulations in the country.”
The Massachusetts strategy aims to reduce statewide emissions by almost 85 percent over seven years, while the Clean Air Mercury Rule expects a 70 percent reduction over thirteen or more years.
Dominion will use a combination of technologies at the plant to reduce mercury emissions from 125 pounds annually to 6 pounds, according to Genest.
