Fish Fog Hot Spot: Great name for a band, but bad news for Jacksonville?

What is a fish fog hot spot? And does this label fit Jacksonville? Read on...our sad story begins in a recent article in the Pensacola News Journal, "Emissions down, but not at coal-burning plants," which said that almost every industry in the nation has reduced mercury content except the power industry.

Why should you care?

As many as 600,000 babies may be born in the U.S. each year with irreversible brain damage because pregnant mothers ate mercury-contaminated fish, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Medical researchers are just beginning to explore the effect of mercury exposure on adults that leaves some in a disorienting "fish fog."

Why should you care if you live in Jacksonville?
JEA is a major emitter of mercury in Jacksonville. And while the EPA is coming out with regulations in the next few years to lower mercury emissions nationwide, this "cap and trade" system could mean that JEA could just buy indulgences instead of actually lowering emissions. Would that mean higher rates with the same high mercury emissions? And is Jacksonville already a fish fog hot spot? According to the article...

The EPA mercury program also allows power plant operators to purchase mercury pollution credits from cleaner plants. Critics warn the trading system could let the worst polluters off the hook and foster "hot spots" with dangerously high levels of mercury.

Will these EPA regulations help lower mercury emissions in Jacksonville?

James Pew, an attorney for Earthjustice, calls the EPA rule a "free pass for the polluters." It "means more mercury pollution, more waters made unsafe for fishing and more young children made susceptible to mercury contamination," he said.

Who says there are no mountains in Jacksonville?

While the highest point in Jacksonville might only be 54 feet, we do have mountains here. You could say we import them. According to Appalachian Voices, there are two coal-fired power plants in the JEA service area that have been purchasing coal directly from mountaintop removal operations in Central Appalachia in the last five years - St Johns River Power Park and Cedar Bay Generating LP. Not only does Appalachia lose its mountains, but by burning that coal, Jacksonville's waterways get all that mercury that's been locked up in those mountains. Shipping Appalachian mountains to Jacksonville...what's next, sending the St. Johns River to South Florida? Oh, yeah, there are plans for that, too.

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Temtped by the Fruit of Another

Since Florida is a noncompetitive electricity market, residents of Jacksonville are stuck in a long-term relationship with JEA and its mercury spewing ways. But, oh, to take a look around the state and see FPL - it seems so attractive. While JEA keeps spewing the mercury using a fuel from Charles Dickens era, FPL has kept up with the times (those are FPL's windmills in the picture). For example, FPL Group Inc. plans to invest $2.4 billion over several years in zero-mercury-emissions technology -- solar-thermal and other renewable energy products. FPL Group is making this investment while providing a 36% total shareholder return. As a citizen of Jacksonville, and therefore a "shareholder" of city-owned JEA, what kind of return are you getting?

Higher rates and mercury emissions. And since Florida is a noncompetitive market, JEA has no competition. That's why strong government oversight is so important. Email the mayor and city council, and tell them you're tired of JEA's mercury emissions and its reliance on Charles Dickens era coal. As for now, our relationship with JEA is like a Britney Spears song...toxic.

These are Some Fly-Ash Bricks

We already know that JEA spews a lot of mercury into the air. But with no known plans to improve its emissions technology or reduce its dependency on coal (which by itself would be a good idea, since coal prices have more than doubled over the past four years and coal faces deteriorating grades and rising costs according to today's Wall Street Journal), how can JEA mitigate all these mercury emissions? Well, check out this innovation, reported in Time magazine:

Kicking Ash

Each year coal-fired power plants dump millions of tons of mercury-laced ash into landfills. Henry Liu has found a way to compress this waste into fly-ash bricks that are eco-friendlier than their clay counterparts. The bricks conserve energy (they're made at room temperature), and tests suggest they may even suck mercury out of the surrounding air.
Available 2009

JEA should license this technology and produce its own bricks for the area's booming construction industry. Not only are there public health benefits for such a move, but it would be a new revenue stream for rate-increase happy JEA.

Photo by heyu1021

Power plants race to reduce mercury emissions. JEA stuck on sidelines?

America's power plants are
racing to reduce mercury
emissions ahead of
new regulations.

Is JEA even in the race?

Power plants and other industries that emit mercury are racing to clean up their act before the EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule goes into effect ("Mercury emitters rush to meet new U.S. rules," USA Today). For example, pollution-control technology at Dominion Resources' coal-burning Chesterfield, Virginia plant, combined with burning coal lower in mercury, will cut the emissions of mercury and other pollutants by an estimated 90%.

And what of JEA, our city-owned utility? Is JEA's highest mercury emissions in the state (according to Florida PIRG) really in our city's best interests? What are JEA's plans for lowering mercury emissions?

Do Florida governments look to cancer as a model for urban planning?

Cancer has many similarities to Florida's local and state governments failed attempts to manage growth:

Aggressive
Cancer - cells grow without respect to normal limits
Florida's governments - developments are approved without regard for the affect they will have on roads, schools, water quality and supply, sewer systems, police and fire protection, libraries, wildlife, open and recreational space, and quality of life

Invasive
Cancer - invades and destroys adjacent tissue
Florida's governments - Florida has lost at least 84,000 acres of wetlands in the past 15 years

Metastatic
Cancer - spreads to other locations in the body
Florida's governments - Central Florida wants to siphon off 262 million gallons of water a day from the St. Johns River and its tributaries

What this means for Jacksonville
In addition to the above ills, cancerous growth in Jacksonville means JEA has to provide much MORE electricity from its coal-fired plants (and is even thinking of building a new one) which means more dangerous mercury emissions.

The solution: Take power from the government and give it to the people
Let the people decide want kind of growth they want in Florida, instead of the politicians. Visit floridahometowndemocracy.com to download, sign, and send in a petition to put the Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment on the ballot, giving voters a chance to decide if they want a say in Florida's future.

Is JEA gambling with our financial future?

The medical risks of JEA's current and proposed coal-fired power plants have already been heavily discussed on Mercury Falling. But what about the financial risks? As your read the below clip from today's issue of The Wall Street Journal, keep in mind that since JEA is city-owned, every resident of Jacksonville is, in essence, an "investor."

Cuomo Subpoenas Five Energy Firms
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating five energy companies to determine whether plans to create coal-fired power plants present an undisclosed financial risk to investors. Mr. Cuomo sent subpoenas seeking internal documents to AES Corp., Dominion Resources Inc., Dynegy Inc., Peabody Energy Corp., and Xcel Energy Inc. The attorney general's office suggested the companies could take a hit if federal lawmakers tighten controls on coal-fired plants, which emit carbon dioxide, among pollutants scientists have linked to global warming.

Does JEA have money to burn?

Well, it might be healthier for Jacksonville than all the coal it burns. But seriously, according to the September 4th issue of Folioweekly, in an article entitled "Bill of Goods," JEA has collected $208 million more than it needed from customers. This, in spite of the fact that JEA promised it would lower rates if fuel prices dropped. The math was done by Bruce Strauss, current retiree and former investigator for the IRS.

What could JEA do with all this filthy lucre? Well, for one, how about clean up its filthy coal plants? Or invest more in renewable energy, from solar, wind, or tidal sources? That way, the cost of "fuel" will never go up, and JEA will no longer have to raise our rates so much, as it does every time coal prices skyrocket.

But wait mystery lovers, there's more. Is there a nefarious plot behind all this extra loot? Folioweekly suggests the city may be looking to sell JEA, and the extra money could help the sale price. That, according to Art Shad, chairman of the City Council's Finance Committee would be a bad idea. According to Folioweekly..."Shad's concern is that profits from the company would go to shareholders outside the area. Shareholders would also want to see a profit and would increase utility rates in order to increase dividends." Bottom line is, if JEA is city-owned, its number one priority is to us, the residents of Jacksonville (although you couldn't tell that from its action, specifically emitting so much toxic mercury).

The high, hidden costs of low-down, dirty coal

Is your JEA bill getting higher and higher every month? Well, that big number followed by a dollar sign is only telling part of the story of the true cost of Jacksonville's coal-fired power plants. Here is a key excerpt from a recent article in The Washington Post:

"According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a scientific advocacy group, annual emissions from a typical coal plant include 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, the major cause of acid rain; 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide, a major contributor to smog; 500 tons of small particles, which cause lung damage and other respiratory problems; 225 pounds of arsenic; 114 pounds of lead; and many other toxic heavy metals, including 170 pounds of mercury, which can cause birth defects, brain damage and other ailments."

And that's just the local coasts of coal. From coalminers' lives to destroyed streams and forests in Appalachia, coal is expensive indeed. Click here to read Jeff Goodell's full article about measuring the true coast of coal, "King Coal: What It Costs Us."

From Charles McBurney, candidate for Florida House of Representatives, District 16

We all know mercury is a dangerous chemical and needs the concentrated attention of JEA. Like you, I am concerned about the alledged violations of the Clean Water Act and note that recent lawsuits have been brought to get some of these matters resolved.

As I am sure you are aware, many problems plague our river. Neil Armingeon, our St. Johns Riverkeeper, seems to be aware of the wastewater being discharged into the river and we applaud his "zero discharge" goal.

I plan to work for funds for the continual clean up of the St. Johns
River when I am elected to the State House of Representatives. I would take an active position of monitoring the efforts of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to ensure everything possible is done to give Jacksonville safe, clean water.

Thanks again for your inquiry. I commend groups such as yours who are concerned and work hard for the health and well being of all our citizens.

Yours truly,
Charles McBurney

JEA: Now Delivering Toxic Mercury Right to your Front Door?

By now, you probably know of JEA's abundant emissions of toxic mercury from its coal-fired power plants on the Northside. Just in case that wasn't heinous enough for you, JEA might now be sprinkling this toxic substance on the road in front of your house. According to a recent Folioweekly article (7/31/07, "Burning Questions: A JEA road project raises concerns about impacts to environment and health"), JEA is using a material derived from a coal ash byproduct in local road projects (basically some of the stuff left over after it burns the coal in its plants).

Folioweekly goes on to say, "Though the use of ash in concrete, gypsum board and road construction is permitted by the federal and state governments, and promoted as a green way to reuse waste, the ash does contain toxins, including mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium." And in one project in Mandarin, it seems like JEA basically sprinkled this toxic fairy dust on to the road and let it blow around for a few weeks in a residential neighborhood.

Of course, this isn't all a bad idea. Reusing waste saves money, time, and resources. But apparently JEA is selling this product, called EZBase, based on one test it conducted itself. There have been no independent tests, which for a product with this much potential toxic downside seems irresponsible. And it doesn't seem like the product is always applied responsibly, if its true that JEA as been letting this potentially toxic dust blow around a residential neighborhood in Mandarin.

Perhaps environmental advocate and mechanical engineer Nelson Helmuth said it best, "The greatest story never told is how we're polluting ourselves to death in this country. In the industrial world, the asthma rate is going up, the cancer rate is going up, the rate of children with attention deficit disorder is going up. We are poisoning ourselves."

The Wind: His Potential Is Ours

How about some wind power in Jacksonville? With the ocean and the river, we seem to have enough. And best of all, no expensive coal to buy and zero mercury emissions.

The secret lives of mercury testers

I just wanted to contribute to this discussion as I think it is very important and one of those ‘bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best’ issues. For a little background, I should say that I work for one of the agencies that collect fish tissue for Hg analysis around the state and I in fact used to sample fish being brought back to the docks. Given my experience, I have followed the data from collection, to analysis, to reporting and know of glaring gaps in the process, particularly the reporting. I have spoken to people at the various agencies involved to get more information on the analysis, process and reporting.

Here is how mercury testing is done for saltwater fish. Biologists collect fish tissue from around the state according to protocol and list of target species. Samples are processed and sent to FDEP for analysis. There is (or was when I was collecting fish tissue a few years ago) such a bottleneck at the analysis level mainly due to staff shortage that they can’t handle too many samples. There are field labs and personnel around the entire state so essentially all areas get sampled, some more than others, some species more than others. A species needs to have at least 20 samples processed in an area to get analyzed and reported and then an average of the Hg in the tissue is analyzed against the legal standard. Having looked at the data, not the raw data, but a summary of the data, the range of mercury in any one given sample can have a pretty large range and may differ in the various regions throughout the state. Generally, the Everglades and Florida Bay have higher mercury levels.

Some other points of interest:
· If you go out and catch a spotted seatrout, for instance, there is no real way to know how much mercury is in it since the range is so large. However, generally, the bigger the fish the more mercury it likely has accumulated. So even though a fish has a lower advisory level, the individual fish may have very little Hg or way over the ‘safe’ limits.

· Just because a fish isn’t on the ‘advisory’ list, it doesn’t necessarily mean that that species is low in mercury. It requires the minimum 20 samples (which can be accumulated since 1989). In other words, an advisory may be based on older data from the 1990s solely or in part. However, since the late 1990s, mercury sampling throughout the state has been ramped up and most of the Hg analysis is based on more recent fish. But there are or have been fish left off the state advisory list that in all likelihood should be there. For instance, swordfish are notorious for their high mercury levels but are (or were in 2005) left off the states’ list. This is simply because there weren’t enough samples to analyze. This is frustrating to me on a personal level since I actually sampled over 20 swordfish from one commercial boat but those samples got lost in the shipping (I won’t condemn the company here!).

· Mercury bioaccumulates in fish tissue and other seafood like blue crab, and stays in our bodies when we consume fish with mercury for some time. However, we can expel the mercury through excretion and sweat. So if you eat a fish with Hg and do not consume any more Hg for ~2 months, that Hg should have left your body. The problem becomes when the intake becomes or remains higher than the output. So our family (mother of child-bearing age and an almost-3- year old) closely monitors our intake of fish in our diets, pay particular attention to what species, try not to eat fish if we don’t know what it is.

· Fish that are imported are not sampled for mercury, at least not to my knowledge. Not only is it very difficult for the consumer to determine 1) where their meal at a restaurant is from, 2) if it was farmed, 3) what the actual species is, 4) how much Hg, and whatever else is in it. There are growing incidents in Florida , and here in Tallahassee , where DNA tests from fish on the menu are not actually what they say they are. An article in the St Pete Times a few years ago showed that about 50% of the sampled snapper from about 15 area restaurants (in Tampa ) were not snapper. The good news is that most of the fish sold as snapper or grouper, if it is not actually that species, it is probably farm raised tilapia – much lower in Hg but if it is farm-raised probably has a whole suite of other chemicals.

· It has been claimed that the half of the mercury in our local and state waters comes from across the globe. However long and far Hg travels and gets deposited, it is clear that it just doesn’t get deposited locally. So coal plants in our area will not only affect our waters, but waters downwind. (Even though I am ~45 miles from the Perry paper plant, on some days in the morning I can smell the poisoned air flowing. Generally on cold winter mornings).

· There is wealth of information online from the federal governments (EPA, FDA, etc), scientific reports, etc that claim that some, even high, Hg levels in our body (for male adults, females not bearing children) are not that bad for us and that the health benefits for eating fish tissue (omega-3 fatty acids) far outweigh the consequences of consuming Hg. However, some fish species should be avoided all together (shark, swordfish, kingfish (king mackerel), Spanish mackerel, tuna, etc). Whether this information is put out there to confuse the public, to not create a panic about Hg, or whatever I am not sure. Some of it is misleading but I still wonder what the effects of eating too much Hg for the average male adult is compared to the gain in eating fish. It is too bad that we have to make that sort of risk-benefit analysis when we know that if we quit polluting the earth with Hg, we wouldn’t have to make that decision. In my opinion, putting that kind of risk-benefit out there just skirts around the problem of input into the environment.

· A Chicago Tribune investigative report of a few years ago showed that mercury levels sold in fish at restaurants throughout the country had exceeded the EPA limits. They also found that basically all canned tuna products have the same high levels of Hg and even though one is supposed to be lower in Hg due to the species it really is not.

· ‘head in the sand, hope for the best’ – a game of hot potato is played by the state agencies on Hg levels. FWC collects the fish tissue and turns it over to the FDEP. FWC doesn’t want to acknowledge mercury levels in all of the regulated fish species are on the advisory list and some very important species shouldn’t be eaten at all by anyone (e.g., king mackerel). FDEP tests and analyzes the data and passes the info to FDOH. DOH creates the advisories based on their level of acceptance. DEP and DOH takes no ownership of the Hg in fish tissue, they just are the messenger, FWC just samples the fish. No one wants to take ownership, acknowledge the widespread problem, work on lowering mercury levels, truly inform anglers and consumers about Hg in fish, regulate fish species based on mercury content, allow imported fish to be sold and consumed untested. There is some minimal effort to prosecute violators who do not label or market the fish species correctly, but much more needs to be done (this could be argued for many reasons.

· I think it is up to the consumers (anglers, people who eat/but retail fish products, environmentalists, etc) to unite and force the government to beef up its testing and reporting. At the very least, consumers should be provided with fact sheets on mercury anywhere fish are available for retail or consumption. It should be included in angling guides, through state fish regulation publications, etc. If we don’t demand it, it won’t happen because that will just allow the heads to be stuck in the sand.

Chad

Thanks to coal-burning power plants, the fish on the left might be more dangerous than the fish on the right

The can of tuna might be more dangerous thanks to mercury, most of which is polluted by coal-burning power plants, like those on Jacksonville's Northside. And while tuna isn't the only fish that might come chock full of mercury (in fact, even shark has mercury in it), canned tuna is the most popular fish in the U.S. And, certainly, way more people eat tuna and are possibly exposed to this toxin than are ever bitten by a shark.

Self magazine recently published an excellent article about the dangers of mercury - "How safe is what's in this can?"

If you don't have time to read the full article, here's a look at some key takeaways and excepts:

Mercury's effects on your health...

"When a pregnant woman consumes mercury, it passes through the placenta into the brain of the fetus, where it can linger for years. In extreme amounts, more than 10 micrograms per gram as measured in hair (which scientists use to gauge the body's mercury levels), mercury can cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness. In the lower-level amounts typically found in Americans—fewer than 2 micrograms per gram in hair—risks to a newborn include a drop of a few IQ points, slow brain development and learning disabilities. Researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimate that more than 300,000 babies born each year in this country are at risk of having brain damage due to mercury exposure in utero."

"Women may also have to worry for their own health: A 2003 study by San Francisco internist Jane Hightower, M.D., published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that 89 percent of her female patients had mercury levels above what most scientists consider safe, and that high mercury levels in adults correlated with memory loss, fatigue and muscle aches. Another preliminary study this year found that mothers who delivered prematurely were more likely to have high mercury levels."

"The Faroes study, which also appeared in 1997 and was led by Philippe Grandjean, M.D., professor of environmental health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, showed that children born to mothers with elevated mercury levels were slow to develop motor and speech skills. "Over an entire population, it can be significant," Dr. Grandjean says. "You will have fewer kids who are really bright and will have pushed a few [down so far] they can't compete in high school."

"Recent research on men in Finland found that mercury in fish increased their risk for heart disease, potentially counteracting the benefits hearts get from omega-3's. Dr. Grandjean, who led the Faroe Islands study, argues that although low-mercury fish is definitely a health food, the evidence linking mercury to heart disease is now strong enough that no one—man, woman or child—should eat fish with elevated mercury levels."

Where does the mercury in tuna and other fish come from?

"Mercury is a liquid metal found in rocks, including coal. When power plants burn coal, they release mercury, causing nearly half of U.S. man-made mercury pollution, according to the EPA."

"Every day in this country, coal-fired power plants in all 50 states spew out particles laced with mercury."

"... a 2002 study published in Environmental Science & Technology estimated that 70 percent of the mercury in our atmosphere was put there by humans."

And now a quick look at the power industry...

"But has women's health truly come first in the government's handling of the mercury issue? For the past decade, numerous scientists have accused the FDA of ignoring their advice and watering down its rules to suit the wishes of Big Tuna: the fisheries that catch and process tuna and the companies that sell it. "It's been complete and utter foot dragging by the FDA," says Deborah Rice, Ph.D., a former senior toxicologist at the EPA now working for the state of Maine. At the same time, Big Tuna—and the electrical-power industry that generates mercury emissions in the first place—have put money into scientific studies that found low threats from mercury and have used that research to argue against tighter rules. Leonardo Trasande, M.D., an expert on environmental toxins at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, says the result of the country's lax methylmercury regulations will be felt for decades to come: 'Mercury is going to poison an entire generation of our nation's children.'"

"But the most reassuring mercury news that year came from an international team ... working in the Seychelles islands off the east coast of Africa. At the time the women studied gave birth, they had about 6 mcg per gram of mercury in their hair—an alarmingly high level. But at a year and a half, the women's babies showed no ill effects. The work...was funded by the governments of the United States and the Seychelles, not private industry. Big Tuna and the power industry chipped in the following year, giving some of the Seychelles researchers grants of half a million dollars to evaluate methods of testing children for cognitive defects resulting from environmental toxins, including mercury. In addition to money from an FDA program, the project attracted $5,000 from the fisheries institute, $10,000 from the U.S. Tuna Foundation and $486,000 from the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, California, a research group funded by electric power-plant companies. (Officials with the EPRI did not return calls for comment.)"

"Yet the fact remains, as Dr. Hightower puts it, that in contrast to studies connected to industry, "most independent studies have found that mercury has harmful health effects." A 2007 British study published in Lancet was the exception, suggesting that eating seafood while pregnant has net health benefits for children. But other independent studies in the United States, New Zealand and the Faroe Islands near Iceland have all shown danger to children due to mercury in seafood."

"The power industry helped underwrite a speech by University of Rochester researcher Philip Davidson, Ph.D., (from the Seychelles study) to a July 2003 conference co-hosted by the American Association on Mental Retardation."

"The San Francisco judge who ruled against consumer warnings relied heavily on the testimony of François Morel, Ph.D., professor of geosciences at Princeton University in New Jersey, whose findings indicate that very little of the mercury in tuna comes from man-made sources. The state countered in its appeal that Morel's claims are "not shared by any other scientists in the field." Morel's research had been aided by—surprise—the U.S. Tuna Foundation. He says that since 2003, he has also accepted roughly $150,000 a year in grants from the Electric Power Research Institute. The power industry has funded almost all of the research into the chemistry of mercury, he adds. "I've yet to see any problems. People are honest and EPRI realizes it would damage itself by trying to skew the results."

And mercury doesn't just damage health, but possibly the economy as well

"And then there's tuna. It has become a focus of mercury worries because we eat so much of it: Canned tuna is the most popular fish in the United States and the second most popular seafood after shrimp, generating close to $1.5 billion in sales annually. That means, as Dr. Jane Hightower notes, 'the issue of mercury in fish involves not only the health of the consumer, but the health of the economy.'"

What to do? What to do?

"The message she (Dr. Jane Hightower, who has treated nearly 100 women for mercury poisoning) gives patients: Use common sense. Fish such as salmon, flax-fed hens, grass-fed beef and fortified products are all good sources of healthy fats. "You can get omega 3's without significantly increasing your mercury level and at the same time have a very healthful diet," she says. "Poison is not a good thing to eat."

The tools at OceansAlive.org can help you sort out which fish have high levels of mercury, and which have low levels of mercury.

Write the city council and mayor. Tell them to require JEA to lower mercury emissions and fund the testing of Jacksonville's water for mercury.

Something is rotten in Jacksonville

Setting: St. Johns River?

City's Response to Effects of Mercury Pollution, "La la la la la la, we can't hear you."

Not literally, of course. But, since Jacksonville has the highest mercury emissions in the state, one would hope our city would be proactive to find out how that effects us all. According to a recent article in Folioweekly, that doesn't seems to be the case...

From Folioweekly, July 17, 2007:

Poison Control
A local census of mercury pollution shows Jacksonville is in big trouble. So why won't the city's Environmental Protection Board step up to help?

Environment Owen Holmes oholmesATfolioweekly.com

(image) The Public Trust's Quilla Miralia, who was instrumental in assembling the group's report on mercury.

Unknown Quantities
How bad is mercury pollution in Jacksonville? The city's Environmental Protection Board doesn't want to know

Concerned about the severe physical and neurological impacts of mercury exposure, Jacksonville's Public Trust Environmental Law Institute brought a representative from the national Mercury Deposition Network to address the city of Jacksonville's Environmental Protection Board at its Jan. 8 meeting. MDN assistant coordinator David Gay laid out the need for Jacksonville to thoroughly assess its mercury levels. The board responded by asking The Public Trust to find out what is currently known about local mercury, and report back.

The group did so last week. Six months in the marking, the exhaustive review of the existing body of knowledge on mercury concludes that information about levels in Northeast Florida's air and water is spotty at best, often conflicting and derived largely from industry self-reporting. Despite the absence of reliable data, the report states, it's likely that Northeast Florida is a "mercury hotspot" due to the presence of major coal-fired power plants (including two adjacent to the Timucuan Preserve) and the region's coastal geography and intricate waterway system. The prevalence of fish in local diets makes residents further predisposed to mercury exposure, which has been linked to brain damage and autism.

To ensure that mercury will be thoroughly, independently monitored -- and that policies might be subsequently adjusted -- The Public Trust again proposed that the EPB fund testing by the nationally recognized Mercury Deposition Network. The $120,000 cost would include sampling every rainfall for a year, with a focus on the area around JEA's Northside Generating Station and St. Johns River Power Park -- the two biggest sources or mercury emissions in the city. (According to JEA's own 2003 estimates, the two facilities are the source of 20 percent of Florida's total mercury emissions, but JEA has since said their estimates were skewed.) The study would also trace various mercury compounds back to their source industries.

But after The Public Trust president and former Environmental Protection Board member Warren Anderson presented his group's findings, the EPB was non-committal at best. Some members suggested asking local college students to perform the testing, or asking JEA to fund the study. Chair Michael Templeton said the issue, like global warming, seems "bigger than life." No conclusion was reach; after a few minutes of discussion, the meeting moved on to a Sunshine Law refresher course.

Asked about the board's position on the study, EPB program administrator Christi Veleta says the board simply doesn't know whether it will fund the program. "We haven't even gone there, to be honest with you. The discussion at the meeting is as far as it's gone," she says, adding that it's possible the issue will arise at upcoming committee meetings. Asked if the board feels that testing mercury levels is a priority, Veleta responds, "We sure need to find out all the information we can find out. No one doubts that."

Weighing the dangers of mercury exposure against feel-good EPB programs like the annual kids' EnviroCamp makes the difficulty of securing money for mercury testing more frustrating. However, funding for the program wouldn't come from the EPB's annual budget, says Veleta. Instead, if the board decides to approve funding for the study, the money would be taken from the city's Environmental Protection Trust Fund, a depository for funds the city gains from settlements with local environmental violators. According to city spokesperson Kristen Key, the fund currently has a balance of more than $1.3 million. Anderson says given the EPB's inaction, he'll now ask JEA to fund the study. If the utility refuses, he'll work on persuading EPB members individually -- "Are you going to do this voluntarily or are we going to have to shame you into it?" he says.

The MDN program has the endorsement of Thomas Atkeson, mercury coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Resource Assessment and Management. "Long-term, consistent monitoring is essential to understanding the trends of mercury impacting our waterbodies and watersheds, which will certainly she light of the path of mercury in Florida and the nation," he wrote in a July 3 letter to The Public Trust, noting that his department was a charter member of the MDN. "I look forward with great anticipation of having another mercury deposition monitoring site in Florida."
Given the level of the EPB's interest in funding the study to date, Atkeson shouldn't hold his breath. In the meantime, The Public Trust's report on existing mercury data can be viewed online at publictrustlaw.org.

If you think the Environmental Protection Board should fund mercury testing, please click here to write the mayor and city council.

You gave these people your vote, now give them a piece of your mind UPDATED

...and protect your mind. Tell them to require JEA to lower mercury emissions every time it raises rates. Also tell them you want the Environmental Protection Board to test local mercury levels. Here is the updated list for the recently elected City Council. Simply copy and paste addresses of those you want to email into your email program and tell them what you think. Or, an even easier option is below!
Mayor
John Peyton - jpeyton@coj.net
City Council
At Large Group 1
Ronnie Fussell - RonnieF@coj.net
At- Large Group 2
Jay Jabour - Jabour@coj.net
At-Large Group 3
Stephen Joost - Joost@coj.net
At-Large Group 4
Kevin Hyde - KHyde@coj.net
At-Large Group 5
Glorious J. Johnson - GloriousJ@coj.net
District 1
Clay Yarborough - Clay@coj.net
District 2
Bill Bishop - WBishop@coj.net
District 3
Richard Clark - RClark@coj.net
District 4
Don Redman - Redman@coj.net
District 5
Art Shad - AShad@coj.net
District 6
Jack Webb - Webb@coj.net
District 7
Dr. Johnny A. Gaffney - Gaffney@coj.net
District 8
E. Denise Lee - EDLee@coj.net
District 9
Warren Anthony Jones - WAJones@coj.net
District 10
Mia Jones - MJones@coj.net
District 11
Ray Holt - Holt@coj.net
District 12
Daniel Davis - DDavis@coj.net
District 13
Arthur Graham - ArtG@coj.net
District 14
Michael Corrigan - Corrigan@coj.net

If you don't have time to craft your own email to candidates, here is a suggested note you can just copy and paste into your email. Of course, feel free to revise as you see best. Also, below the note you will find a list of all candidates' email addresses divided by commas. Simply copy and paste the entire list into the "To:" field of your email program.

Dear Candidate,
I am writing you to ask you to support the Mercury Falling initiative, which calls for JEA to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates. Duval County has the abysmal honor of ranking first in the state for emissions of mercury with 21% of Florida's total, according to a 2002 EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). And this in a state ranked 11th in the country for mercury emissions (according to the Florida Public Interest Research Group.) Even worse, the report found that virtually all of our county's emissions were from JEA's St. Johns River Power Park and Northside Generating Station.

Mercury is considered harmful to all parts of the brain, especially young brains, and is known to cause attention deficits, memory and language impairment, autism, and low IQ. Exposure to high levels of mercury may cause loss of motor function and irreversible nerve and kidney damage. Mercury emissions may harm Jacksonville's economy in other ways as well. For example, Jacksonville is well known for the annual Kingfish Tournament, but state health officials recommend people never eat large kingfish because they contain so much mercury.

JEA is a public utility and its board of directors is appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council. That is why it is in your control to do something about this problem and pledge your support to the Mercury Falling initiative.

Thank you,

And here is a list of current council members' emails you can post in the "To:" field of your email program...
jpeyton@coj.net, RonnieF@coj.net, Jabour@coj.net, Joost@coj.net, KHyde@coj.net, GloriousJ@coj.net, Clay@coj.net, WBishop@coj.net, RClark@coj.net, Redman@coj.net, AShad@coj.net, Webb@coj.net, Gaffney@coj.net, EDLee@coj.net, WAJones@coj.net, MJones@coj.net, Holt@coj.net, DDavis@coj.net, ArtG@coj.net, Corrigan@coj.net

Heavy Metal: Bad enough on the radio, even worse in Jacksonville's food supply

The next time you take a bite out of a juicy orange you picked off a tree in your backyard or a blueberry from a local farmer's market, you might want to stop and think what you're really eating. Jacksonville's coal-fired power plants emit A LOT of mercury. Is that mercury making its way into our local food supply?

For a hint whether this dangerous neurotoxin can get into our food supply, we can take a look at China. A recent Wall Street Journal article ("China Faces a New Worry: Heavy Metals in the Food," 7/2/07) delved into the effects of pollution in that country. Among its findings..."China’s soil contamination is caused by a range of factors. Mercury released into the air by coal-fired power plants is captured by raindrops, and transferred to the soil and groundwater."

Is JEA's pollution making its way into our food? And, if so, what is the true cost of your electric bill? Just some questions to nosh on.

Hey, Thanks Owen

To read the full Folioweekly article referenced below, "Other People's Property," please click here. And a very special thanks to Owen Holmes (no relation to Owen Wilson) for providing the article, and, heck, for writing it in the first place. This topic isn't getting reported on much, if at all, in the local media.

JEA Gives Taylor County an iPod, While We're Still Listening to an Eight-Track

The title is clearly an analogy. But city-owned JEA is building a cleaner plant with better technology in Taylor County than the plant they operate right here in Jacksonville. That's right, according to Mark McCain, spokesperson for the JEA-developed project, "The plant...will emit a third of the sulfur dioxide and half of the nitrogen dioxide of JEA's Northside Generating Station." He goes on to say, "This is not your grandfather's coal plant." (source: Other People's Property: JEA wants to pollute one of Florida's dirtiest counties, Folio Weekly, 06/19/07)

Why are we stuck with "your grandfather's coal plant"? Why do we get twice the nitrogen dioxide pollution (which has been linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and three times the sulfur dioxide (which causes acid rain) of JEA's plant in Taylor County. We own JEA, it is city-owned! If anything, JEA should clean up our plant in our city first. We should have the best, cleanest technology. We own JEA!

But there's really another issue here. Why is JEA building another dirty, coal-fired plant at all? They are really just exporting our pollution to Taylor County. "There's a lot of sick people in Taylor County," Joy Towles Ezell, a fifth-generation Taylor County resident said, "We don't need another mercury source."

Building a dirty plant in Taylor County that provides no electricity to its residents is a raw deal. We should know, Florida Power & Light does it to us by operating a coal-fired plant in Jacksonville that provides no local electricity. Let's not do it to our own neighbors. But at the same time, let's clean up our own act. If cleaner technology is good for JEA's plant in Taylor County, its good for JEA's plant in Jacksonville.

Taylor County doesn't want our mercury emissions either

Hello JEA Board Members,
I have learned that you have a rate increase hearing going on right now - and I'd like to complain.
I am writing to you from Taylor County, FL - where JEA has decided to export its pollution and stomp its carbon footprint on us. It is quite obvious that JEA needs a rate increase to cover the increased and unexpected costs of the Taylor Emphysema Center, without having to reveal such to your customers.
Since your customers don't know about your involvement with this Edsel-era pulverized coal burner, (nothing's been in the newspaper in JAX about it - so far) - guess I'll just have to let them know myself. I sure hope this message goes into the public record of your meeting.
There are more problems arising that JEA's pr folks didn't expect (that Buckeye buddies didn't tell you) - problems like railroad access, lack of water, problems with permits, getting yourselves involved with Buckeye's toxic effluent (you'll own it when you pipe it- are you sure you want YOU want to own that nasty dioxin-laden stink?), increased attorneys fees, problems over at the PSC, the governor's office, outlying counties not accepting JEA's toxic wastes, outlying counties not wanting the air pollution - or the mercury, and a lack of support by nearly everyone in Taylor county except for that of five politicians and their little pseudo friends clique. That's all you've got. If a vote were taken in Taylor County on whether or not to have a coal fired power plant here, you'd lose, and you know it, and our county commissioners know it. We will remove three of them from office in 2008.
Wouldn't it be smarter of JEA to stop this ridiculous proposal right now? You are going to lose, and we will make sure that your loss will be very shameful for you. I attempted to tell your first pr guy, Ron Whittington, that he was barking up the wrong tree. He should have listened. Are you listening to the world-wide movement and opinions concerning climate change? Aren't you concerned about global warming? Are you sure that you want to be associated with causing the problem, do you want to be blamed for adding to the problem, instead of working to solve the problem? Come on, get on the right track.
Wouldn't it be smarter of JEA to increase its solar program? JEA is so proud of the current solar program - forced upon JEA , not by the utilities' goodness of heart, but by an environmental lawsuit.
How about some ocean current just off JAX Beach? How about some wind energy - you have plenty of wind and open space over there in Duval County - it's a big county, and JAX covers the whole county. How about some good conservation measures?
We know that JAX is in danger of losing your federal highway funds?. Yes, we know you are at the level of attainment (caused by your coal fired power plant), and are in danger of JAX losing its federal highway funds if you built another coal fired power plant in Duval County - so you'd rather little ol' poor Taylor County lost its federal highway funds. Well, that is beginning to dawn upon our poor little county fathers over here......and they might be just a little bit upset at that thought. It all comes down to money You may have more money, but more people in Florida are on our side. Go away, JEA.
Just thought I'd let you know.
I don't expect a response, though one would be nice.

thanks,
Joy Towles Ezell

See the light

You know the story: Change your incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) and it's a win-win situation: you save money on your electric bill and JEA doesn't need to burn as much mercury-emitting coal. But, as some people have noted, CFLs themselves contain some mercury. So, are they still a smart choice? Outside magazine says:

"CFLs contain only five milligrams of mercury, less than what's released from a coal-fired plant producing the energy used by an incandescent bulb during one year."

And, everyone knows, JEA burns A LOT of coal to power Jacksonville. So the answer is, switch to CFLs, save money, and hopefully cut down on the massive amounts of mercury that JEA emits. And when it comes time to throwing out a CFL (which shouldn't be anytime soon since they last 10 times longer than traditional bulbs), Outside magazine notes:

"Still, don't go throwing CFLs in your household trash. Check earth911.org for safe, local disposal options."

You gave these people your vote, now give them a piece of your mind

...and protect your mind. Tell them to force JEA to lower mercury emissions every time it raises rates. Here is the updated list after the May 15th election, it includes current council members, and council members who were recently elected but have yet to take office. Simply copy and paste addresses of those you want to email into your email program and tell them what you think. Or, an even easier option is below!
Mayor
John Peyton - jpeyton@coj.net
City Council
At Large Group 1
Ronnie Fussell - RonnieF@coj.net
At- Large Group 2
Jay Jabour -jay@jayforjax.com
Elaine Brown (incumbent, not running) - ElaineB@coj.net
At-Large Group 3
Lad Daniels (incumbent, not running)- LDaniels@coj.net
Stephen Joost - ?
At-Large Group 4
Kevin Hyde - KHyde@coj.net
At-Large Group 5
Glorious J. Johnson - GloriousJ@coj.net
District 1
Clay Yarborough (elected Mar 20) - sbclay@yahoo.com
Lake Ray (current) - LRay@coj.net
District 2
Bill Bishop (elected Mar 20) - bill@electbillbishop.com
Lynette Self (incumbent, not running) - LSelf@coj.net
District 3
Richard Clark - RClark@coj.net
District 4
Don Redman - donredman@bellsouth.net
Suzanne Jenkins (incumbent, not running) - SuzanneJ@coj.net
District 5
Art Shad - AShad@coj.net
District 6
Jack Webb - Jack@VoteJackWebb.com
Sharon Copeland (incumbent, not running) - SCopelan@coj.net
District 7
Dr. Johnny A. Gaffney - jag_gaffney@comcast.net
Pat Lockett-Felder (incumbent, not running) - PFelder@coj.net
District 8
E. Denise Lee (elected Mar 20) - EDLee0630@yahoo.com
Gwen Yates (incumbent, not running)- GYates@coj.net
District 9
Warren Anthony Jones - wjredcaps@bellsouth.net
District 10
Mia Jones- MJones@coj.net
District 11
Ray Holt - ray@rayholt4citycouncil.com
Warren Alvarez (incumbent, not running)- WAlvarez@coj.net
District 12
Daniel Davis - DDavis@coj.net
District 13
Arthur Graham - ArtG@coj.net
District 14
Michael Corrigan - Corrigan@coj.net
Dave Siebert - daveforcitycouncil14@yahoo.com

If you don't have time to craft your own email to candidates, here is a suggested note you can just copy and paste into your email. Of course, feel free to revise as you see best. Also, below the note you will find a list of all candidates' email addresses divided by commas. Simply copy and paste the entire list into the "To:" field of your email program.

Dear Candidate,
I am writing you to ask you to support the Mercury Falling initiative, which calls for JEA to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates. Duval County has the abysmal honor of ranking first in the state for emissions of mercury with 21% of Florida's total, according to a 2002 EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). And this in a state ranked 11th in the country for mercury emissions (according to the Florida Public Interest Research Group.) Even worse, the report found that virtually all of our county's emissions were from JEA's St. Johns River Power Park and Northside Generating Station. JEA disputes this self-reported data as an overestimation. Even so, the numbers are huge, and how much have emissions grown in the past five years? According to Folioweekly, "in 2005, the last year for which data is available, JEA released 322 pounds of mercury into the air, enough to deliver the daily exposure limit of 300 micrograms of mercury a day to 486,666,666 people."

Mercury is considered harmful to all parts of the brain, especially young brains, and is known to cause attention deficits, memory and language impairment, autism, and low IQ. Exposure to high levels of mercury may cause loss of motor function and irreversible nerve and kidney damage. Mercury emissions may harm Jacksonville's economy in other ways as well. For example, Jacksonville is well known for the annual Kingfish Tournament, but state health officials recommend people never eat large kingfish because they contain so much mercury.

JEA is a public utility and its board of directors is appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council. That is why it is in your control to do something about this problem and pledge your support to the Mercury Falling initiative.

Thank you,

And here is a list of candidates' and current council members' emails you can post in the "To:" field of your email program...
jpeyton@coj.net, RonnieF@coj.net, jay@jayforjax.com, ElaineB@coj.net, LDaniels@coj.net, KHyde@coj.net, GloriousJ@coj.net, sbclay@yahoo.com, LRay@coj.net, bill@electbillbishop.com, LSelf@coj.net, RClark@coj.net, donredman@bellsouth.net, SuzanneJ@coj.net, AShad@coj.net, Jack@VoteJackWebb.com, SCopelan@coj.net, jag_gaffney@comcast.net, PFelder@coj.net, EDLee0630@yahoo.com, GYates@coj.net, wjredcaps@bellsouth.net, MJones@coj.net, ray@rayholt4citycouncil.com, WAlvarez@coj.net, DDavis@coj.net, ArtG@coj.net, Corrigan@coj.net, daveforcitycouncil14@yahoo.com

Email Exchange with Mayor John Peyton

It all started when Mercury Falling submitted an idea to the Mayor's "Great Ideas Grow Great Cities" program (which is, itself, a great idea). Here's what Mercury Falling posted...

Jacksonville has the highest emissions of mercury in the state of Florida, almost all of which comes from city-owned JEA, according to Florida Public Interest Research Group. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin, especially to pregnant mothers and children, and could even hurt literacy efforts and school performance. The great idea is to get JEA to agree to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates. Necessity is the mother of invention, and this restriction on JEA is sure to lead to a cleaner, more efficient utility. Since JEA has no competition, city action is the only thing that will change our utility for the better. For more info, please visit mercuryfallingjax.blogspot.com

The mayor's reply:

Thank you for taking the time to share your great idea! As you may know, JEA is an independent entity not under my purview as mayor; however, by copy of this e-mail I have forwarded your suggestion to the attention of Mr. Jim Dickenson, managing director of JEA, for his consideration and review.

Again, thanks for writing; I hope you will consider contacting me with your suggestions in the future. Great ideas grow great cities and I sincerely appreciate your feedback!

Best,
John Peyton
Mayor

Mercury Falling's response:

Mr. Mayor,
Thank you for your reply. Do I have permission to post our e-mail exchange on Mercury Falling - mercuryfallingjax.blogspot.com?

Also, thank you for forwarding the idea to Mr. Dickenson. But I must say, to me it seems a little like passing the buck. Even though JEA is an independent entity, you, as mayor, appoint the Board of Directors. Also, JEA is community-owned (not a private, for-profit company), so I can't help but think that you have a large amount of leverage over its operations.

Great cities are run by great leaders. Up until now I think you have done a good job of running Jacksonville, but if we are to become a truly great city, and that's a bold statement, it will take committed leadership to improve our city on every level. Our state-leading mercury emissions, a black eye on our city, is one place where you truly can step in and make a difference. Please do. Just think of the impact. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin to children, how does it affect test scores, literacy and education? It pollutes our waterways so we can't eat our fish, how does that hurt our economy - both for recreation and professional fishermen?

You can also visit mercuryfallingjax.blogspot.com to see what other cities are doing to become great cities - leaders in efficiency and cleanliness.

Thank you for your time,

And, just so you know that Mercury Falling is not trying to play a game of "gotcha" with any city official, here is Mayor Peyton's approval to post this exchange on this blog:

I appreciate your reply. All e-mail communication from my office is a matter of public record and you have my permission to post our exchange on your blog.

Again, thank you for weighing in on matters affecting our city.

Best,
John Peyton
Mayor

How many Senators does it take to change a lightbulb?

Traditional light bulbs are a 125-year-old technology and their useful life is coming to an end. A good thing, too. How much 1879-era technology do you still use? I'm guessing you didn't commute to work today on a horse, and you probably sent an email to a colleague on the West Coast instead of using Pony Express. So why are some people still using ancient incandescent bulbs?

Manufacturers and environmentalists are working on a nationwide energy-saving standard that, if enacted by Congress, would relegate incandescent light bulbs to history museums in about ten years and produce major cuts in the nation's electricity costs, according to The Wall Street Journal ("Households Would Need New Bulbs To Meet Lighting-Efficiency Rule"). An important positive side effect, especially in communities like ours that rely on coal-burning power plants, would be less mercury emissions. A few key points from the article...

• "The Senate Energy Committee estimates a shift from the standard tungsten filament incandescent bulb and other relatively inefficient forms of lighting would save $18 billion in electricity costs every year."
• Less need for electricity would mean less need to burn coal, which is how JEA generates almost all of its power. "Burning coal releases pollutants including carbon dioxide, which scientists think is accelerating climate change, and mercury, which can damage the nervous systems of small children."
• Of course, if you use efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) make sure you dispose of them properly. "...CFLs include a tiny amount of mercury that would require their disposal through recycling programs."

So just how much mercury emissions and cash could we save?

"Estimated savings for one year if all general-service incandescent lamps were replaced with energy-saving lights..."

Halogen energy saver - 1,600 lbs of mercury emissions saved, $4.9 billion electricity bill savings
CFL lamp - 4,500 lbs, $14 billion
LED, 50 lumens/watt - 4,300 lbs, $13 billion
LED, 100 lumens/watt - 5,300 lbs, $16 billion

Preconception notions

If you are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, and living in Jacksonville, pay special attention to the water you drink and be very careful about eating fish, especially anything caught locally. According to tasteforlife magazine ("For a Healthy Pregnancy"), "Also avoid potential toxins - lead, mercury, and pesticides - in the environment."

Since Jacksonville emits more mercury (from JEA's plants) than any other city in the state, Jacksonville moms-to-be have a special challenge. Mercury Falling is by no means a medical website, just saying do your homework and be safe out there.

Jacksonville grows, who benefits?

As we're getting closer to election time, you'll see every candidate claim it as part of their platform - growth. Sometimes disguised as smart growth or economic growth, but the questions must be asked, who does growth really benefit? Does it benefit the average citizen or just the developer?

The average citizen gets more traffic, less green space, more pollution from all that traffic and the need for JEA to burn more coal, and most pertinent to this blog, more mercury in our air and water as JEA burns more coal for all those news homes and buildings. So far, not seeming like a great deal for the average citizen.

Developers make more money, by getting to sell more new homes and offices, and pave more roads. So, its pretty easy to see who's behind this contstant need for growth at all costs, and who probably funds most election campaigns - the developers.

But here's a novel idea, what if we stopped encouraging growth? Or as Youngstown, Ohio is doing - a city that zigs where every one else zags, actually leveraging decreased population into a good thing. Below are a few excerpts from the Wall Street Journal article "As Its Populuation Declines, Youngstown Thinks Small: Rather Than Trying to Grow, Ohio City Plans More Open Space":

• "Unused streets and alleys eventually could be torn up and planted over, the city says. Abandoned buildings could be razed, leading to the creation of larger home lots with plenty of green space, and new parks."
• "'He (the mayor) envisions large blocks of green space throughout the city. The theme of the master plan is to make Youngstown clean and green,' he says."
• "City officials say there are many places where streets could ultimately be dug up, street lights taken down, and sidewalks removed in order to create green spaces where there were once densely settle blocks. While it doesn't have specifics yet, the city says it expects certain vacant land to be turned into parks or community gardens."

Is a bigger Jacksonville a better Jacksonville? According to Daniel Gilbert, a social scientist and author of the book "Stumbling on Happiness"..."But there's another way to get a sense of how you would feel in some future circumstance: other people's experience. For example, lots of people have won the lottery and put their happiness, or lack thereof, on public display. Rather than closing your eyes and imagining how wonderful it would be to win the lotto, you could find out how past winners actually feel. But we tend not to do that. Why? Because we all believe that we're unique and that other people's experiences are a poor guide to our own. But it turns out we're not nearly as unique as we think—at least when it comes to emotional responses to events."

So let's take a look at other people's experiences, what will the next phase of Jacksonville's growth, growth, growth machine look like. South Florida? Atlanta? Los Angeles? Basically, non-stop traffic, smog, and not enough drinking water ("Drought and development threaten our water supply") Do you really think that's a better Jacksonville?

And if you think the growth, growth, growth chorus will help you get a good price for your home when you sell, take a look around. How many homes are sitting for sale unsold in your neighborhood? How many new homes and condos are sitting unsold nearby? Do you really think you can compete with the developers dollars and incentives when it comes time to sell?

As a final note, here are a few words of wisdom from Joni Mitchell...
"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum.
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em.
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Hello sun, goodbye mercury

Hello everyone, my name is Alex Porges and I am an Ecopreneur w/ Citizenre, soon to be the nations largest solar power provider to homeowners. The way they do this is by renting the solar panels at kWh generated, which is based on your local utility rate. For instance, if your utility is 8.9cents/ kWh, then this is the rate Citizenre will charge you, but they will keep it at this rate for up to 25 years! And, their PhotoVoltaic Solar Panel system (they call it a ReNU) will provide enough electricity to power your whole house. So, if you need 1000 kWh/ month, they'll set you up w/ a system that will give it to you. Sounds great right?

The only thing that you need to put down, not now but when the panels are ready, is a security deposit starting at $500 (for a 5kW system). This security deposit is put into a T-Bond that you get back w/ interest at the end of your term. Two other great things about Citizenre is that: 1) they are asking for no money to reserve your system right now and 2) you get the rate for whenever you reserve your system. That means that if you sign up today, you get today's rate, which applies to the time that the panels are finally installed. That could mean that when your panels are installed, your rate actually goes down.

Now you say: 'Well what about the environmental impact? How will my carbon footprint change by going solar?' That is a very good question. I have gathered information from the EPA about the pollution emitted per kWh from a coal plant. Nuclear is a different story, but since over 50% of our energy is produced via coal, it is of major concern.

For a typical 1000 kWh of electricity used in a month, 820 lbs of CO2 and 0.163 lbs of Mercury are put into the atmosphere. This translates to 9840 lbs (4.9 tons) of CO2 and 1.956 lbs. of Mercury annually (source: Iowa Waste Reduction Center). So, if you thought that the only polluting you were doing was from out of your tailpipe, you were wrong. And, here in Jacksonville, JEA is rated as the worst Mercury polluter in the state, which is not good if you are having/raising children. So, if you switch to solar energy, not only are you Joining the Solution but you are doing very very good for the environment.

Alex
Affordable Solar Power for US Homeowners:
-No Equipment Investments
-No Maintenance Required=No Hassles
-A Fixed Electric Rate for 25 Years
www.jointhesolution.com/porges37mer

LEED, follow, or get out of the way

Many local U.S. governments are using a new building code that adheres to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards set out by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), according to Real Estate Portfolio magazine. The article, entitled "Growing Green," goes on to say..."What is happening across the market is that municipalities are realizing that there are measuring sticks, such as LEED, that they can use to evaluate how they are doing environmentally," says Stuart Brodsky, national program manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A major aspect of achieving LEED certification is energy efficiency, so more LEED-certified buildings in Jacksonville could have a huge impact in three ways...

1. Jacksonville is a fast-growing city with many, many new buildings added every year. These buildings will need electricity for possibly hundreds of years after they are built. The more efficient they are, the less electricity JEA will have to produce which means...
2. JEA emits the most toxic mercury in Florida. Less need for electricity means less need for JEA to emit mercury that could harm pregnant women and children and make local fish poisonous to eat. Less need for electricity means JEA might not have to build the new, hugely toxic coal plant it is planning for Taylor County. Which means JEA might not have to raise our bills so much to pay for more capacity. Which means...
3. More money in your wallet and in the local economy. And since businesses in LEED buildings won't have to pay as much for electricity, they won't have to charge you as much for their products, they can pay their employees more, and Jacksonville would be a more competitive place to do business. And residents of LEED buildings wouldn't have to pay as much for electricity either.

So what is Jacksonville doing to ensure more LEED buildings in our city. As far as this blog can tell, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. (If someone from the city knows different, please email mercuryfallingjaxATyahoo.com) What is the rest of the country doing? Here's a small sampling from Real Estate Portfolio magazine:

• Washington, D.C.'s Green Building Act of 2006 requires that commercial developments larger than 50,000 square feet meet LEED standards for new and renovated buildings starting Jan. 1, 2012.
• Chatham County, Georgia provides tax incentives for LEED certification.
• San Mateo, Alameda, and Pasadena counties in California passed LEED initiatives and adopted green building policies
• Boston requires all major new and rehabilitation construction projects exceeding 50,000 square feet to meet LEED standards.
• Suffolk County, New York has passed LEED initiatives
• And once again proving that Jacksonville isn't where Florida begins to innovate...Sarasota County provides a 50% reduction in the cost of building permit fees for private contractors if they use LEED.
  

Don't Let the Sun Go Down On a Good Idea

As the mercury keeps shooting out of JEA's coal-fired plant, you have to ask, as residents in the Sunshine State, why don't we have more clean, steady-rate inducing solar power? JEA has some solar generation, and it seems to be successful...

According to Joy Ezell from TRUE - Taylor Residents United for the Environment, "Did you know that JEA has to have a solar plant to power 26 schools and city hall because of a lawsuit settlement with Sierra Club? The solar plant is operational - and is featured in the documentary 'KilowattOurs' - with Susan Hughes, spokesperson for JEA, practically clicking her heels about how wonderful it is and how great it's working. They say they power City Hall and 26 JAX schools with solar power - Florida
Sierra Club negotiated this plan with JEA after the Northside Generating Station's terrible problems with mercury forced the shut down of the first power plant, then they cranked up the new one."

So why not more solar power? Every killowatt generated by solar power means less coal needs to be burned means less mercury fouling our fair city.

Is Jacksonville more backwards than Fayetteville, Arkansas?

Fayetteville, Arkansas has a sustainability director and Jacksonville does not! Fayetteville, Arkansas!!! What happened to "The Bold New City of the South"? According to Newsweek, ("Mayors Take the Lead"), 435 mayors, Republican and Democratic, in Red States and Blue, from the crunchy coasts to the conservative heartland, have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Jacksonville has not. Forget about "Boldly going where no man has gone before." Jacksonville won't even boldly go where many others have been.

By signing on, these mayors are saving their cities money! For example, by converting stoplights from incandescent bulbs to LEDs that use 80% less energy and last six to 10 times longer, Arlington, Texas, expects a projected windfall of more than $250,000 a year. New York City will realize savings of $6.3 million a year once the initial investment is paid off. That's your tax money we could be saving.

Of course, by making this move, we'd be saving energy too. Which hopefully means less petroleum coke would have to be burned, and therefore less toxic mercury would foul our city.

A reminder: why we need to lower mercury emissions...

Mercury Falling has been going on for a while now, covering a range of topics. So as not to lose sight of our original goal, urge JEA to agree to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates, let's take a look again at why we must lower Jacksonville's mercury emissions...

JEA had the highest mercury emissions (1,037 pounds) in the state in 2005, according to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory. In 2003, JEA's St. Johns River Power Park and Northside Generating Station were the largest power plant mercury polluters in Florida. Duval County topped the list of Florida counties with the highest level of power plant mercury emissions, 599 pounds - or 20% percent of the state's total power plant mercury emissions. In Florida, power plants emitted 2,982 pounds of mercury in 2003. Florida ranked at 11th in the nation for the highest levels of power plant mercury emissions. 91% of all reported mercury air emissions in Florida were from power plants. Studies show that mercury bioaccumulates and biomagnifies more quickly in wetlands areas than in other areas. JEA's plants are in a wetlands area, a fact.

Much of the mercury (a harmful bio-accumulative neurotoxin) in Florid's humid climate tends to fall in the region nearest the the coal plant. JEA's plants emit a constant rain of mercury onto our region. Currently every body of water, inshore and offshore, is under fish consumption warnings for mercury. Health impacts are most notable in the old and the young, especially fetuses. Autism, IQ loss and other developmental disabilities have been linked to mercury exposure and are reaching epidemic levels.

Please, take just two minutes RIGHT NOW, and write the mayor and City Council and urge them to get JEA to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates.

Jacksonville leads the state in toxic mercury emissions thanks to JEA. Is JEA's solution to build an even dirtier plant in Taylor County?

As Mercury Falling has said, Jacksonville has the dubious distinction of emitting more toxic mercury than any other county in the state. Mercury Falling's solution to drop this heinous distinction is to emit less mercury. Is JEA's solution simply to make another Florida county even dirtier than its make Duval?

And is this what is behind our continous rate increases? According to Joy Ezell from Hope for Clean Water, "Six rate increases over the past four years - to build up money to build the Taylor Emphysema Center." That is Joy's name for JEA's plan to build "an 800 megawatt pulverized coal fired power plant in Perry, in Taylor county, FL - the Taylor Energy Center - which will be a larger - (three 800 megawatt units) mercury emitter than Jacksonville's Northside generating coal plant. We understand that there have been no articles or letters to the editor of the Jacksonville paper, so folks over there don't know what JEA is up to...."

Is this where the money from our rate increases is going to? According to Taylor County local Gale Dickert, "JEA is over here offering $10,000 grants to our community for "environmental education" and "outdoor recreation", etc. while folks in Jax are paying through the teeth for their electricity -- and JEA has imposed a 20% increase on their backs to cover their expenses for this coal plant ---and the grants they are giving away to groups in Perry."