Category Archives: Mercury

The State of Texas And TCEQ Fight Against Cleaner Air For Texans

By | Bio | Published: November 28, 2012

The State of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) are once again fighting against clean air rules that will save Texans’ lives. This time, it is the first-ever standards limiting the amount of mercury and other toxics power plants can emit. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) will ensure that 90 percent of the mercury content in coal burned by power plants is not released into our air. Given that power plants are responsible for half of all mercury emissions in the U.S., these reductions will be a substantial protection in keeping our air, waterways, and fish from toxic mercury pollution.

TCEQ, the Texas attorney general, and others are challenging the standards in court, saying that the toxic pollutants covered by the mercury standards do not "pose public health hazards.” The reality is that power plants in the U.S. are a major source of many toxics such as mercury (50 percent), arsenic (62 percent), chromium (22 percent), acid gas (77 percent), and nickel (28 percent). These pollutants are linked to cancer, neurological and development impairments, and many other harmful health and environmental impacts. Other sectors have cleaned up their toxic pollution and now it is time for power plants to do the same.

A report EDF released last year demonstrated that Texas had an oversized share of the top mercury emitting coal plants in the U.S. in 2009. Contaminated water bodies and, subsequently, food fish sources, as shown below, illustrate the legacy of mercury pollution in and around Texas.

Leaders in Texas and TCEQ are misguided in their attempt to upend these life-saving standards, which will prevent up to 11,000 deaths each year. Up to 1,200 of the deaths prevented will be in Texas, and Texas stands to benefit the most in terms of avoided premature deaths among all the states. The monetized value of the health benefits from these regulations is estimated at between four and ten billion every year beginning in 2016.

Public health interests, some power companies, and, and other stakeholders support MATS and have intervened in support of it in the Courts. Among them is Texas’ own Austin Energy. The Lower Colorado River Authority has also indicated it is “well-positioned” to comply. We need TCEQ and the state of Texas to stand up to harmful pollution instead of standing in the way of public health protections.

Also posted in Air Pollution, MATS, TCEQ | Leave a comment

ERCOT’s Three-card Monte Trick For Grid Reliability

By | Bio | Published: June 25, 2012

(Credit: Arnie Levin)

First we have enough generating capacity, but next year is the problem; now that next year is upon us it’s really the next few years that are the issue. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), grid operator for most of Texas, foresees potential electricity shortages. Clearly the risk is real, but when?  This year? Two years from now? Reports swirl by, some only weeks apart, showing different numbers and contradicting previous reports. Are we seeing a bureaucratic version of Three-card Monte?

During last summer’s drought, demand peaked on August 3, using more than 68,000 megawatts. ERCOT’s stated goal is to maintain a 13.75% reserve margin in generating capacity. Their latest report shows the state’s electrical grid will fail to meet the target reserve margin as soon as 2014, two years from now.  A report in early May actually shows that this summer ERCOT will fail to meet that target as well, although it isn’t stated explicitly.

Meanwhile EPA is meeting with ERCOT and the nation’s other grid operators to develop an implementation timeline for the new Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) air toxics rule, which should begin this fall. Utilities have three years to implement the new rules…unless the three-year timeline threatens grid reliability. Then utilities can get a fourth year…unless grid reliability is still threatened. Then utilities have a full five years to comply.

Concerns about grid reliability are very real, but they are due to power companies deciding to hold off on constructing new power plants while prices are so low.  Unfortunately some state leaders and utilities have seized on these ERCOT reports, and are shifting their conclusions in an attempt to delay rules that have been in the works for years, and in some cases decades.  The new EPA standards will dramatically cut mercury, heavy metals, acid gas and other emissions from power plants. The public health benefits to our state will be enormous, especially for Texas children who breathe air tainted by power plant emissions. The cost of unwarranted delay is a price Texas should not have to pay.

Also posted in Air Pollution, Drought, Environmental Protection Agency, MACT rule | Leave a comment

If It Is So Clean, Why Is White Stallion Trying To Rollback Clean Air Rules?

By | Bio | Published: April 24, 2012

(Credit: www.houstontomorrow.org)

White Stallion Energy wants to build a 1,320 MW power plant in Bay City, Texas and claims that its plant will not harm human health. Recently, White Stallion filed a challenge against the EPA to rollback the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rules that protect people from toxic air pollution. Why would this power plant fight against these rules? Because this plant plans to emit toxins into the air that harm public health. White Stallion cannot meet these health protections in the MATS rule, so they are fighting against the rules.

The MATS rule places the first-ever federal limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants in the United States. These standards provide vital health protections for millions of Texans, especially infants and children, from the largest sources of toxic air pollution. When implemented, these standards will annually prevent up to 11,000 deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, 130,000 asthma attacks, over 500,000 missed work days due to illness and over 3 million unhealthy air days. These protections are valued at $37 billion to $90 billion each year they are carried out.

Coal- and oil-fired power plants are the nation’s single largest manmade source of major toxic air contaminants, responsible for half of all mercury pollution, 77 percent of acid gases, and 62 percent of arsenic emissions. Mercury exposure can cause brain damage in infants and can affect children’s ability to walk, talk, read and learn.  Experts estimate that hundreds of thousands of babies are born each year with potentially unsafe levels of mercury in their blood.

White Stallion’s COO, Randy Bird, claims that “the new source levels [for mercury] are beyond detectable limits”. This is simply untrue. Many coal-fired plants are already achieving the mercury standards in the proposed rule and are in-fact exceeding the standards by a significant margin. Additionally, many states have made progress on reducing mercury emissions from the power sector and have set standards for existing coal-fired units significantly more protective than EPA’s proposed standard.

On a positive note, motions to intervene in support of the rule were filed by a group of states and cities and a group of public health and environmental organizations including EDF.

The states and cities supporting this motion include Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, District of Columbia and New York City.

The organizations supporting this motion include the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Lung Association, American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Clean Air Council, Conservation Law Foundation, Environment America, Environmental Defense Fund, Izaak Walton League of America, Natural Resources Defense Council, Ohio Environmental Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club, and the Waterkeeper Alliance.

If you have been following our updates, you know that White Stallion has weaved a web of lies and played a shell game with its site plans in an effort to obtain air, water and wetlands permits. The real challenge for White Stallion to move forward isn’t the EPA or the new air toxics rules; it is the low price of home-grown, Texas-produced natural gas.  This latest petition only further shows that White Stallion is a bad idea for the Lone Star State. It’s time for White Stallion to see the light and stop fighting against clean air protections for Texans.

Also posted in Air Pollution, coal, Environmental Protection Agency | Leave a comment

EPA (finally) releases toxics limits on power plants

By | Bio | Published: December 23, 2011

(credit: www.eoearth.org)

 What a great holiday gift for America's kids. And other people who breathe and eat.

On Wednesday, with sign-off from President Obama, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the first federal regulations limiting the amount of mercury, arsenic, acid gases, dioxins and other toxics that America's coal- and oil-fired power plants can release into our air. Of course, this is a big deal only if you think neurological damage, cancer, heart disease, birth defects, asthma attacks and premature deaths are big deals. At EDF, we do, and in a joint statement with a half-dozen other national environmental groups, we pointed out the new protections will prevent 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 asthma attacks among children — and save 11,000 lives. Every single year.

It wasn't easy. Environmentalists, evangelicals, moms and health professionals have been pushing to address this toxic threat for 21 years, and the electric power industry has pushed just as hard the other way — and with a lot more money behind them. The new regulations are a major step forward for the public's health and the health of the environment. Not surprisingly, some power companies are squealing like stuck pigs. But to their credit, fully three-quarters of the nation's largest coal-fired generators support the new rules and say they should be able to comply with them. In fact, the CEO and President of PSEG told the Wall Street Journal that the new regulations "provide a clear path for responsible coal generation."

And to those who insist on pitting the environment against the economy, we offer this: Fitting older power plants with new pollution control technology will produce an estimated 46,000 new short-term construction jobs and 8,000 new permanent jobs at power plants.

It was a long time coming, but Wednesday was a very good day.

Also posted in Air Pollutants, Air Pollution, Environment, Environmental Protection Agency | Leave a comment

Medical Community Responds to Ill-Worded Comments

By | Bio | Published: May 13, 2011

Perhaps you read about Representative Joe Barton last month criticizing Environmental Protection Agency scientific projections that stronger mercury and air toxics standards could prevent 17,000 premature deaths each year.

Rep. Barton had countered during a Congressional hearing that such estimates were “pulled out of thin air.” He also confessed that while he was not a medical doctor, “to cause poisoning or a premature death” he believed one had to “get a large concentration of mercury into the body.”

These comments were meant to thwart support of EPA’s new proposed Air Toxics standards intended to greatly reduce power plant toxic emissions. [Note: As I wrote after the proposed standards were announced, Texas stands to greatly benefit since it houses seven of the nation’s top 25 mercury-emitting coal plants.] Read More »

Also posted in Air Pollutants, Ozone, PM2.5 | 1 Response

A Polluter Puppet Show In Houston

By | Bio | Published: April 28, 2011

The Texas EPA Task Force will be visiting Houston tomorrow to examine the environmental protections being employed and to “[talk] to industry representatives about the affect of over bearing EPA regulations on jobs in the Houston area.”

While Rep. Barton and his colleagues might be quick to apologize for what they feel is government overreach, EPA regulations haven’t stopped ExxonMobil ($10.6 billion) or Shell ($6.29 billion) from making enormous profits in the first quarter of this year.

We have a few suggested stops and notable facts for the “Task Force” to consider while touring the Houston-area:

And when they’re done touring the ship channel, they should visit Texas City, where when the power goes out, the residents stay inside to avoid the tons of pollution flared from the local refineries and chemical plants.

In an instance this week, during a power outage, Valero alone pumped a reported 43,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide into Texas City air.  The outages were caused by soot buildup due to a lack of rainfall.  The emissions were so high in Texas City, residents were told to take “shelter in place,” meaning stay where they were.  The emissions from the plants exceeded the air monitors ability to measure their levels.

If this “Task Force’s” only answer to extreme weather, deplorable air quality and health conditions for Texans and a total absence of meaningful state regulation is to attack the Clean Air Act and pray for rain, then Texas is in trouble.

When our citizens must take shelter from literal pollution attacks, our farmers struggle to find water to irrigate their crops and our children struggle to breath, we must help ourselves.  Now is not the time to play the role of puppet to polluters.  We need real leadership, we need real solutions.

Also posted in Air Pollutants, Air Pollution, Benzene, Environmental Protection Agency, GHGs, Ozone, PM2.5, Ports, TCEQ, Texas Permitting | Leave a comment

Texas Officials Spreading Cow Pies

By | Bio | Published: March 21, 2011

Today Texas Congressmen Joe Barton and John Carter along with a number of members of the Texas Legislature, Chairman Bryan Shaw (TCEQ) and others stood up for pollution. They announced their intent to prevent actions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing the Clean Air Act to protect public health.  They relied on tired arguments and misrepresented statistics to paint a picture of doom for Texas industry.

Congressmen John Carter went as far to say that those who question the quality of Texas air “don’t think much of Texas.”  Well I resent that remark, I was born and baptized in Ft. Worth, attended Texas Christian University and have lived in Texas for 33 consecutive years.  Real Texans care about our state’s future and wouldn’t try to gut protections that save lives and create jobs in clean energy.

We have a multi-billion dollar state budget shortfall and have yet to pass a federal budget for a fiscal year we are already in, yet two Congressmen, multiple members of the Texas Legislature as well as two state agency commissioners feel it necessary to waste time debating the merits of a regulation that most Texas companies are already willing to follow.

The EPA warned the State of Texas that the Flexible Permit Program implemented by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) did not meet federal standards for almost a decade.  After a lot of grandstanding and political posturing last year, 71 of the 74 companies holding flexible permits in the State of Texas have agreed to meet EPA regulations. It seems that industry is ahead of the politicians.  Read More »

Also posted in Air Pollutants, Air Pollution, Environmental Protection Agency, GHGs, Ozone, PM2.5, TCEQ, Texas Permitting | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Texans to Benefit Even More From New Toxics Rule

By | Bio | Published: March 16, 2011

Today the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new Mercury and Air Toxics rule that will help clean up mercury pollution from our nation’s power plants. A new Environmental Defense Fund report shows that Texas citizens will especially benefit from this rule with seven of the nation’s top 25 mercury-emitting coal plants here in our state, and four of those among the top 10 (see map).

Seven of the Top 25 Mercury-Emitting U.S. Coal Plants in 2009 are in Texas (Four of which are in the Top 10) Source: Proprietary Analysis, EIA 860 2009, EIA 923 2009, Ventyx Velocity

Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of toxic mercury air emissions in the U.S. and Texas coal plants have lagged far behind other states in reducing emissions. Top Texas coal plant emissions in 2009 by pounds of mercury released include the following (among the nation’s top 25 emitters):

  • Martin Lake 1,566 lbs.
  • Big Brown 1,362 lbs.
  • Limestone 1,077 lbs.
  • Monticello 1,063 lbs.
  • W A Parish 845 lbs.
  • Sandow (No. 4) 809 lbs.
  • Pirkey 791 lbs.

Such figures should concern us all given the serious human health impacts. While we have yet to learn all of the implications from harmful exposures to mercury, we do know that some of these effects are most severe in infants and young children, and include brain damage, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, and impaired vision and hearing. Read More »

Also posted in Air Pollution | Tagged , , , | 1 Response

New Rule Expected to Dramatically Reduce Hazardous Power Plant Emissions

By | Bio | Published: March 11, 2011

Perhaps next week we’ll all be able to breathe just a little bit easier with the much- anticipated Wednesday, March 16 announcement of a new Air Toxics Rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency will announce a rule that will, for the first time, limit hazardous emissions from our nation’s power plants. These pollutants threaten the health of every American with annual emissions of more than 386,000 tons of dangerous air pollution like mercury, acid gases, heavy metals and even radioactive materials.

Unlike criteria air pollutants – like ozone and particulate matter – there are no current national ambient air quality standards for air toxics. This means that there’s no regulation on the amount of harmful air toxics that can collect in our air, water, or wildlife. Once in the environment, many of these toxic compounds are there forever.

While we have yet to learn all of the implications from harmful exposures to air toxics, we do know that some of the most serious health effects are most severe in infants and young children and include brain damage, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, and impaired vision and hearing. We also know that reducing exposures can reduce risk, and that reducing risk is the best and most immediate way to protect human health. Read More »

Also posted in Air Pollution, Environmental Protection Agency, Ozone, PM2.5 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Responses

Rep. John Carter and Others Sided With Corporate Lobbyist To Threaten The Safety of Children

By | Bio | Published: March 7, 2011

Seeing a sonogram can be a powerful experience.  Witnessing the early, fragile stages of life can have a tremendous effect on a person. 

No, we’re not talking about the debate in the Texas Legislature; we’re talking about mercury, Congress and the health and safety of you and your family. 

Congressmen and women are sent to Washington on a promise that they will serve in the best interest of their district.  It is an ideal as old as the institution itself.  On February 16, 2011 Rep. John Carter and other Texas Congressmen broke that promise. 

Mercury is a compound that most of us know to stay away from, it’s dangerous.  Rep. John Carter wants to pump more of it into the air.  He authored an amendment that would eliminate emissions reductions on mercury from cement plants in the United States.  He seems to believe that the interest of polluters far outweigh that of the public he was elected to serve. 

If ingested by a pregnant woman, mercury can cause a mother’s worst nightmare: brain damage leading to learning disabilities and attention disorders, as well as delays in walking and talking.  It is estimated that every year 400,000 newborns are exposed to harmful levels of mercury. 

This is the health and safety of our children both living and unborn. 

The majority of the United States House voted in favor of Carter’s amendment, compromising the health of unborn children.   

Rep. John Carter and these Representatives lead the way.

Here is a list of the Texas co-sponsors:

Rep. Joe Barton
Rep. Kevin Brady
Rep. John Carter
Rep. K. Michael Conaway
Rep. John Culberson
Rep. Blake Farenthold
Rep. Bill Flores
Rep. Kay Granger
Rep. Sam Johnson
Rep. Kenny Marchant
Rep. Randy Neugbauer
Rep. Pete Olson
Rep. Ted Poe
Rep. Pete Sessions
Rep. William M. Thornberry

We thought it might help them to see an actual sonogram to better understand the effect of their decisions on unborn children. 

EDF is currently working to get this ad running in Texas. Please visit edf.org/cleartheair to find out how you can help to ensure these actions don’t go unnoticed.

Also posted in Air Pollution | 4 Responses