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.