Clean Air Mercury Rule and Oregon DEQ

As some of you know, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality proposed a rule in the summer of 2006 that would have required PGE to reduce mercury emissions from their Boardman power plant in eastern Oregon virtually consistent with the Bush administration EPA's mercury rule. There was considerable public outcry at public hearings before the DEQ and before DEQ's oversight board, the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC). The DEQ then revised their proposed mercury rule and submitted it to the EQC in early December of 2006. The EQC approved it in a vote on December 16, 2006.

Oregon's Clean Air Mercury rule as now approved is good; certainly a step up from their original proposal. It is not great, however, because it allows for credit trading of mercury with other power companies in other states. This means that PGE can continue emitting more mercury than the rule allows provided they purchase credits from companies running plants that meet the rule. If PGE installs mercury emission control technology, they can then sell credits to companies running power plants that do not meet the mercury pollution standard, allowing them to continue polluting the air with mercury, albeit in a different part of the country than Oregon. Credit trading will be fully allowed until 2013 when a "limited" amount of trading will be allowed (the actual amount is not spelled out in the DEQ information sheet). Only in 2018 will credit trading be completely eliminated.

Below are documents used in testimony at the hearings in written and oral form, as well as a letter to the editor that was not published by the Oregonian:

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Oral Comments provided at EQC hearing June 22, 2006

Eric R. Miller, PT, MHS
1541 SE Malden St
Portland, OR 97202
503-236-0825
June 22, 2006

I want to thank the EQC for having this time available for public comment. My name is Eric Miller, and I hold a masters degree in maternal and child health from The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, and a masters in physical therapy from the George Washington University. I live in Portland. I am here representing the Sellwood Playgroup Association, which has approximately 70 families with small children as members, and as the co-chair of the Oregon Global Warming Action network, a loose affiliation of individuals in Oregon, mostly in Portland, brought together by our common concern on global warming with a mission of educating others about the issue.

I want to preface my comments with the statement that although I quote a particular DEQ analyst assigned to the proposed CAM rule, my purpose is not to vilify or alienate him, but to communicate to you my serious concerns regarding the rulemaking process, as well as to help bring about more accountability to the process.

I attended the DEQ hearing this week on the Clean Air Mercury Rule and I was shocked at not simply the flawed process of this rulemaking, but the actual failure of the rulemaking process to protect our environment and public health so far, that I was compelled to come and discuss this with you today.

I fear that the hearing I attended is a symptom of what has become standard practice at DEQ.

1. During the meeting it became clear that the proposed mercury rule was formulated with a heavy hand by the very company it is designed to regulate. When the analyst didn’t know how high the stacks were at the Boardman power plant, he looked to the individual at the back of the room whom he seemed to know would have the answer, Dennis Norton, PGE’s Manager of Environmental Services. The analyst stated that he had only discussed this rule with one public interest group, OEC, and did not have any conversations with any of the Native American groups adversely affected by this rule. He stated that he had not called any companies involved in retrofit control technology to assess the effectiveness, efficiency or cost of currently available mercury controls. It appears that he relied almost entirely on information from PGE to determine what level of mercury control would be appropriate. This seems to be a clear case of industry directly influencing governmental regulation of its own practices.

2. When questioned, the analyst was unaware of the safe level of mercury for human health. It became clear that no health organizations or individuals were consulted on the mercury rule making. I believe this is the most important purpose of having regulation on mercury emissions: human health. He also stated that the 210 pounds of mercury emitted from Boardman in 2003 was “negligible”. It appears that there is very little if any interagency communication in terms of rule making. When it comes to a rule that has its basis in human health, it is nothing short of shocking when there is no consultation with any health individuals or organizations.

3. At the DEQ hearing, the mediator had to repeatedly let people know that the analyst was a technician without legal, policy or health background. Was there no consultation with legal, policy or health experts on the rule making? Why weren’t these people part of the hearing?

4. Important hearings that effect the health and welfare of our children so dramatically should not be held during business hours. These meetings need to be held when concerned citizens, particularly those disadvantaged with lower incomes or children with disabilities such as autism, can have a better chance to attend.


For the record, The American Academy of Pediatrics has made the statement that the safe level of mercury for human health is zero. Indeed, 210 pounds of mercury is the equivalent amount of mercury in 123,000 oral mercury thermometers, which were made illegal to sell in Oregon 5 years ago because of the environmental and health potential of just some of those thermometers breaking and releasing mercury into the environment. Release of 210 pounds of mercury per year is like breaking close to 350 mercury thermometers each day into Oregon’s air. 210 pounds of mercury is enough to contaminate 2.5 million acres of lakes, more than 4 times the surface area of lakes that exist in our entire state. It is astonishing that the DEQ CAM rule maker could state in public that the 210 pounds of mercury emissions from Boardman in a single year is “negligible”.

It seems safe to say that currently DEQ is an agency that serves industry instead of the public. In the age of haze and ozone, mental retardation and autism, global warming and rising sea levels, we do not have the luxury of sitting back to let industry regulate itself. EQC has the responsibility, really the moral imperative, to make DEQ independent from industry influence, particularly when our children’s health is at stake. Analyses of such an important rule as mercury emissions must be required to take into account all those who could be adversely affected. At the very least, EQC has the moral imperative to ensure the strongest emission controls are placed on any plant emitting mercury, sox, nox, as well as carbon dioxide, which is arguably our worst nightmare of a pollutant, and one that humanity has yet to realize.

I implore you to ensure that Oregon does not enter into the federal mercury cap-and-trade program, and that Oregon requires maximum achievable control technology for mercury emissions at PGE/Boardman as well as other mercury emitting factories.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you. I can submit my comments in written form if anyone wishes.

Endnote:

Explanation of the calculations used for the mercury thermometer analogy is as follows:

0.0273 ounces of Hg in one oral mercury thermometer
16 ounces in 1 lb
In 2003, Boardman emitted 210 lbs of mercury (data from Mr. Ebersole at DEQ)
210 lbs is 3536 ounces of mercury.
This is approximately 123,000 mercury thermometers per yr or 337 per day.

It takes approximately the same amount of mercury in one oral thermometer to contaminate a 20 acre lake
There are 619,000 acres of lakes total in Oregon. 210 lbs of mercury is enough to contaminate 2.5 million acres of lakes, over 4 times the lake surface area in the entire state of Oregon.

To fully understand the gravity of this statistic, one must also realize that this is the amount of mercury released in just one year, the plant has been operating since the mid-70’s, and mercury does not readily degrade in the environment, but bioaccumulates in many species including salmon and ourselves.
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Dear Oregonian Editor,

Michael Milstein’s article (Mercury rules give kiln a pass, June 20, 2006) raises a very scary truth about Oregon’s cement industry polluting our air with neurotoxic mercury, and we should all be outraged that this is occurring without federal or state regulation. At the same time, Milstein gives the impression that the proposed mercury rule would be overly burdensome to PGE/Boardman, when PGE has worked with DEQ behind closed doors to ensure that the mercury rule is weak.

As the hearing on Monday made painfully clear, DEQ has really only consulted with PGE about how to regulate mercury at the Boardman plant. They have not investigated the current health impact or local deposition of mercury (in an area with a large dairy and creamery).

The technical rule maker never consulted with retrofit technology industries to determine the extent to which mercury can be efficiently removed from coal burning emissions, but instead relied upon PGE officials for information on current technology. And he was not aware of what the minimum safe level of mercury is for human health and had to learn this from a health professional in the audience. He categorized the 210 pounds of mercury emitted by Boardman in 2003 as “negligible”.

210 pounds of mercury is the equivalent amount of mercury in 123,000 oral mercury thermometers, which were made illegal to sell in Oregon 5 years ago because of their hazard to health. This is enough mercury to contaminate 2.5 million acres of lakes, more than 4 times the surface area of lakes that exist in our entire state.

The safe level of mercury for human health is zero according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. All mercury emissions from any industrial site need to be monitored, regulated and minimized. It begins with a Department of Environmental Quality committed to its mission of restoring the quality to Oregon’s air, land and water that we once knew.

Sincerely,
Eric R. Miller

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DEQ Title V public hearing comments
June 28, 2006
Eric Miller
chasingmoose@gmail.com
503.545.7312

My name is Eric Miller, and I live in and am a land owner in Portland. I am here as a member of the Sellwood Playgroup Association, which has approximately 70 families with small children as members, and as the co-chair of the Oregon Global Warming Action network, a loose affiliation of individuals in Oregon, mostly in Portland, brought together by our common concern on global warming with a mission of educating others about the issue.

PGE Boardman is Oregon’s largest stationary polluter of greenhouse gases including oxides of nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the state of Oregon. These emissions are trapping heat and have raised, and will raise further, the Earth’s average temperature, causing many climatic changes. Global warming is causing serious, and potentially devastating, consequences for all of our essential resources. Just as PGE Boardman’s pollution contributes to these harms, so every incremental decrease in greenhouse gas emissions will reduce these harms.

PGE has economically feasible options for generating electricity with lower emissions, including changing fuels, improving generation efficiency, increasing generation from zero or low-carbon energy sources, and capturing emissions. Reductions of emissions from the power sector are among the most cost-effective that can be made in the US economy.

It is time for Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality to use the full power of its authority. It is time for our state legislature and governor’s office to fully fund DEQ’s mission to protect the environment and the public health vis-à-vis the worst polluter in Oregon, PGE/Boardman.

I propose a single scenario, and truly the only scenario, that is consistent with environmental well-being and human health in today’s world. The only path is to require any facility that emits any greenhouse gas, whether it be sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, methane or any other, to have a time-frame on the shut-down of the facility that produces the emissions. As many are now calling it, the PGE Boardman power plant is a dinosaur that lacks any modern emission controls. The expense PGE will soon face to install mercury filters, sulfur and nitrogen scrubbers, and particulate filters is going to be high. If that money were instead invested into the new clean energy infrastructure of wind farms, solar alternatives, biofuels, as well as other alternative energy sources becoming available; and the ratepayers allow for a small, sliding-scale increase of rates; and the governor and the legislature provide incentives to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, Oregon would become the national and international leader, a model for all people to join in the effort to avert much of the serious and potentially devastating consequences of the status quo.

I call on each and every employee at DEQ, the commissioners who sit on the EQC, the governor, all members of the Oregon legislature, the employees of PGE, and most importantly each citizen of this great state to think outside the box on this issue. Ask yourself, “How can I improve this process, our situation and our future?” This is no longer a business-as-usual situation.

“our house is burning down and we’re blind to it…The earth and humankind are in danger and we are all responsible. It is time to open our eyes. Alarms are sounding across all the continents…We cannot say that we did not know! Global warming is still reversible, [but only for a short time more]. Heavy would be the responsibility of those who refused to fight it.” --Jacques Chirac, World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, August, 2002.

Humans are an innovative, creative and intelligent species. I hope we utilize these qualities to solve the global warming problem right here in Oregon, the Title V permit renewal provides us with an opportunity to begin.

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This is a written comment submission to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality regarding the proposed Clean Air Mercury Rule by:

Eric R. Miller, PT, MHS
1541 SE Malden St
Portland, OR 97202
503.236.0825

August 11, 2006


I represent the Sellwood Playgroup Alliance (SPA) and the 70 families in my neighborhood who are members of playgroups associated with SPA. I am also co-chair of the Oregon Global Warming Action Network, a loose affiliation of citizens brought together by their shared concern of global warming.


Mercury is the most acutely toxic chemical being released by coal burning power plants in Oregon and across the United States.

In children mercury directly impacts cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language and fine motor and visual-spatial skills. Children exposed to methylmercury in the womb have higher risks of mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness. Even in low doses, child development can be retarded, delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span, and causing learning disabilities. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the only safe level of mercury for human health is zero.

In adults, mercury impairs peripheral vision, sensation, coordination of movement, speech, hearing, walking and can cause muscle weakness. Mercury also increases risk of cardiovascular disease including HBP, irregular and increased heart rate, and increased rates of death from heart attacks. It also effects human fertility. Mercury is classified as a possible human cardinogen by the EPA.

Oral mercury thermometers were banned by the Oregon state legislature five years ago because of the health risk posed when one breaks and releases mercury into the environment. Portland Gas & Electric’s Boardman power plant emitted 210 pounds of mercury in 2003. This is the equivalent amount of mercury in 123,000 oral thermometers. The amount of mercury in one oral thermometer, if deposited from the atmosphere to a 20-acre lake each year, will contaminate the fish of that lake. Boardman’s release of 210 pounds of mercury in 2003 is enough mercury to contaminate 2.5 million acres of lakes, more than four times the total surface area of lakes that exist in Oregon.

Nationally, coal-burning power plants release over 50 tons of mercury per year into the air. The quantity released has been rising with increased power demands, both at Boardman and nationally.

The DEQ has a critical opportunity and a moral imperative to protect Oregon and the nation’s children from the release of this persistent, bio-accumulative toxin. Allowing PGE Boardman to purchase credits outside of Oregon will only delay the implementation of mercury control technology in the plant. This will unnecessarily allow greater continued mercury pollution in Oregon. If PGE were to eventually install mercury controls on Boardman, they would then be in the morally corrupt position of selling credits outside of Oregon, allowing another plant to continue emitting high levels of mercury.

Mercury capture and control technology for all grades of coal, including the variants of western coal burned at PGE Boardman, is already field-tested, cost-effective and commercially available. It is time for DEQ to require that PGE install mercury controls without the cap and trade loophole.

Please act to adopt the aggressive but realistic mercury reduction timelines in either the Citizen’s Proposal (www.NEDC.org) or the STAPPA/ALAPCO model rule, and prevent Oregon plants from simply purchasing mercury credits outside of Oregon rather than taking steps to control their mercury emissions.

Sincerely,
Eric R. Miller, PT, MHS

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letter sent to each of the EQC members prior to their voting on the revised CAMR proposal which was passed.

December 1, 2006

Ken Williamson, Ph.D.
204 Merryfield Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-2302

Dear Dr. Williamson,

I am writing to ensure that recent information is available to you and the EQC for your December meeting.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection just passed a Clean Air Mercury rule for their state that requires 90% reduction of mercury by 2015. Critically, the rule also includes a prohibition of any mercury credit trading.

Pennsylvania has some 26 coal-burning power plants that emitted some 9,136 lbs of mercury in 2002. Of the close to 11,000 public comments received regarding the rule, only 36 were opposed to it. The republican legislature is unlikely to block the rule.

The Pennsylvania DEP website states why they have prohibited trading of mercury emissions:

"Pollution credit trading is an effective tool that enables quick and cost-effective pollution reduction. The commonwealth supports trading as it relates to pollutants that are non-toxic and that disperse over broad geographic regions. Mercury, however, is a dangerous neurotoxin that can cause grave damage to brain function and the central nervous system. Exposure to mercury is especially harmful to the unborn, young children and expectant mothers. The toxicity of mercury, taken together with the fact that it deposits locally, means that mercury pollution needs to be controlled at its source. The federal Clean Air Act recognizes this and addresses mercury in a provision that requires the installation of "maximum achievable control technology." Trading is provided for in a wholly different part of the Clean Air Act that discusses non-toxic pollutants that tend to disperse regionally or globally." [http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/mercury/site/default.asp]

Thank you for the consideration of this important information in your deliberations about whether or not to accept the new DEQ CAMR proposal.

Sincerely,
Eric R. Miller, PT, MHS