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."