2 Power Plants Up Mercury Emissions

Morgantown Dominion Post
23 March 2010
Associated Press

CHARLESTON — A new report by the Texas-based Environmental Integrity Project shows that instead of cutting mercury emissions, two West Virginia power plants have been releasing more.

The report is based on the Toxics Release Inventory, an online storehouse of pollution data that power companies provide annually to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The report released last week shows that between 2007 and 2008, emissions from the nation’s 50 largest plants were flat, falling just 0.26 percent, while 27 of those plants increased mercury emissions.

That includes American Electric Power’s Kammer-Mitchell plant in Marshall County, up 40.52 percent, and Allegheny Energy’s Fort Martin plant in Monongalia County, up more than 31.19 percent, the report said.

AEP’s John Amos plant in Putnam County cut emissions by 7.31 percent.

AEP spokeswoman Melissa McHenry said her company’s presence on the list is all about size: Bigger plants burn more coal and pollute more. AEP is testing a new mercury pollution control technology at a plant in Indiana, she said.

‘‘Obviously we will operate our plants in compliance with whatever rules come down,’’ she said.

However, there will be costs, and they ultimately will be reflected in utility bills. The Indiana project is estimated to cost $27 million, McHenry said.

The Environmental Integrity Project says power plants are the single biggest source of mercury air pollution in the United States. Texas is the single largest polluter on the list, with five plants claiming spots in the top 10.

Mercury settles out of the air into rivers and lakes, moving into the human food chain through fish. The EPA estimates nearly half the nation’s lakes and reservoirs have unsafe levels of mercury.

Ilan Levin, author of the new report, says that while some utilities are upgrading their plants, many are waiting until the federal government forces them to act.

A cap-and-trade type system for mercury was adopted by the EPA, but a federal appeals court overturned the rule in 2008 because it violated the Clean Air Act.

Levin said there is plenty of readily available technology today for power plants.

‘‘There’s just no more excuses for the utility industry to not clean up its mercury emissions,’’ he said.