EPA Cracks Down on Mercury Pollution from Cement Kilns

The Feds have finally gotten serious about cracking down on mercury pollution produced by cement kilns. On April 21st, just in time for Earth Day, the EPA released new regulations that will cut airborne mercury pollution by 81%-93% – a huge victory for environmental law firm EarthJustice, which has been fighting for regulation for years.

From the EarthJustice press release:

Led by Lisa Jackson, the EPA Administrator newly appointed by President Obama, EPA is proposing first time standards for cement kilns of mercury, hydrochloric acid, and toxic organic pollutants such as benzene.  In addition, the agency is strengthening the outdated standards for particulate matter to better control kilns’ emissions of lead, arsenic, and other toxic metals.

Earthjustice prevailed in a string of lawsuits aimed at forcing EPA to set limits for airborne mercury pollution from cement kilns for nearly a decade. Such limits were due under the federal Clean Air Act in 1997.

“This is great news and is a promising sign that the new leadership at EPA and in the White House is serious about protecting public health and the environment,” said Earthjustice attorney Jim Pew. “By stopping pollution at its source, we can keep mercury from poisoning the fish we eat. Bit by bit, we can reclaim our nation’s waters and protect our children’s health and our environment from dangerous mercury pollution.”

Although cement kilns have avoided controlling their mercury pollution until now, they are one of the largest sources of mercury emissions nationwide and the worst mercury polluters in some states. But kilns can curb their mercury emissions by using cleaner raw materials, cleaner fuels, and readily available technology like scrubbers and activated carbon injection.

Even small doses of mercury are extremely dangerous. Just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury can contaminate a 20-acre lake and make the lake’s fish unsafe to eat.

Check out EarthJustice’s flyover of the Cupertino cement kiln in the hills outside San Francisco:

As Treehugger reports, this rule will also make it more difficult for coal-fired electrical utilities to compete on price with natural gas-fired electricity and/or renewable energy:

As Treehugger reports, this rule will also make it more difficult for coal-fired electrical utilities to compete on price with natural gas-fired electricity and/or renewable energy:

Coal-fired electrical generating plants currently send most of their mercury emissions skyward, as vapor carried along with hot gases flowing up the smokestacks. Because mercury is a metal vapor in hot stack gas, it is dissociated from particulate matter and therefore is not captured in conventional pollution control devices like a bag filter. Hence, relatively little mercury ends up in the fly ash produced by utilities. (Mercury does coalesce into aerosols and dust particles down wind from the discharge point.)

If coal-fired utilities are forced by coming regulation to add mercury pollution controls, they are likely to end up diverting a great deal of the captured mercury to the fly ash, increasing the mercury concentration of fly ash, which is commonly added to cement kiln feed. Cement kilns will not be able to serve as de-facto disposal facilities – which amounts to nothing more than shifting the mercury from one stack to another. Thus, utilities that once were giving away fly ash to cement kiln operators will now have to pay to dispose of it instead, increasing the cost of coal-fired electricity.

Check out an interactive web feature at the EarthJustice website that illustrates how cement manufacturing creates mercury pollution, as well as this interactive map showing the locations of cement kilns nationwide.

Link [Treehugger] + [EarthJustice]
Photo credit: Flickr user Tarboat