Mission mercury; citizens testify to eliminate toxic emissions

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL Chronicle Staff Writer

Flipping through a copy of the new Montana fishing regulations, Dr. David King of Belgrade said he noticed several icons in the shape of fish skeletons.

The dead fish logo captured his curiosity. So he checked the key to learn its meaning.

"There are a number of waters in the state of Montana where you are advised not to eat the fish," because of mercury contamination, King said at a public hearing Thursday night.

Some of those waters are lakes and reservoirs far across the state.

But a few of them, like Canyon Ferry and Hebgen Lake, are close to home.

"You shouldn't eat the fish out of those," King said, "and our beloved president wants to worsen that situation."

The Environmental Protection Agency, under court order, has come up with a set of proposed rules to regulate mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, said Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center in Helena.

But the rules as they are proposed, Hedges said, are actually less stringent than the federal Clean Air Act.

"Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury emissions in the country and we are not proposing to regulate them as a hazardous air pollutant," Hedges said. "How do you rationalize that? I don't think it is possible to rationalize that."

The EPA did not hold a hearing on the new rules in Region 8, which includes Montana. So several local groups organized a citizen's hearing to collect testimony, Dr. Colette Kirchhoff said.

People from Helena, Missoula and southeastern Montana traveled to Bozeman for the chance to comment and all agreed the rules are not strong enough to protect people, fish and the environment.

Physicians spoke of the health risks associated with mercury contamination, including damage to the central nervous system and neurological and developmental problems.

Environmentalists discussed the need for better pollution controls on coal-fired power plants -- especially because the technology exists to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent.

And many spoke of politics, saying the wealthy electrical power industry has influenced environmental regulations.

Seven new coal-fired power plants are proposed in Montana, and Hedges said under the regulations those plants would not be required to implement new pollution control technology.

In fact, the rules would allow the biggest polluters to essentially buy pollution credits from companies that emit less mercury than allowed in a system called "cap and trade."

That proposal is mindboggling to Tom Willingham, a former EPA employee and environmental toxicologist who now teaches at Montana State University. Willingham was a member of a mercury working group while at the EPA in 1998 and said understanding mercury is complex.

"There are scientific questions that are yet unanswered," he said. "How the EPA can propose to cap and trade mercury emissions is beyond me ... I must come to the conclusion that it is not based on good science."

The EPA will accept public comment on the mercury regulations until March 30. Comments can be sent to A-and-R-Docket@epa.gov.

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