Milt Reynolds: Thinking Out Loud

Mercury: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 4 To avoid paying for expensive pollution controls, Portland General Electric (PGE) is planning to close the Boardman coal-burning power plant by the year 2020, about twenty years earlier than original plans. Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recommends that PGE look for more options. The early closure is still on the table, but DEQ thinks there needs to be more discussion, more options, more alternatives . Ten more years of pollution seems too long. The Boardman coal-burning power plant is Oregon's largest single source of pollution and acid rain . New federal regulations force Oregon to take a hard stand, confronting PGE about longstanding pollution. Nitrogen oxide emissions must be reduced by 84% and sulfur dioxide by 80%. The cost? About $470,000,000. Rather than upgrade, PGE is planning to close the plant. The Boardman plant emits 5,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide, 15,000 tons of sulfur/nitrogen ...

Mercury: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 3 According to www.epa.gov , in 2000, the EPA Administrator found that regulation of hazardous air pollutants, including mercury , from coal and oil-fired power plants was appropriate and necessary. In 1999, EPA estimated that approximately 75 tons of mercury were found in the coal delivered to power plants each year and about two thirds of this mercury was emitted to the air, resulting in about 50 tons being emitted annually . This seems to be an outrageously large amount of elemental mercury. This is mercury emitted in the United States... imagine the total global mercury pollution . Natural sources of mercury — such as volcanic eruptions and emissions from the ocean—have been estimated to contribute about a third of current worldwide mercury air emissions, whereas anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions account for the remaining two-thirds. These estimates are highly uncertain. Land, water, and other surfaces can repeatedly r...

Mercury: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 2 The Good : CFL bulbs cost less in the long run and they consume less energy. The Bad : CFL bulbs contain mercury, and mercury weakens, sickens, and kills people. The Ugly : In five years, the citizens of Hermiston, Oregon, my hometown, will have a ship-load of burned out CFL bulbs, over 210,264 bulbs, containing a total of 841,056 milligrams of mercury . Where are we going to throw them? Here's what I've found out: I called our community sanitary service and asked them if they recycle CFL bulbs. After explaining what they are, and what they contain, they said they can only take bulbs that are green-tipped , the ones that contain low levels of mercury, about 4 milligrams per bulb. That's great. Only later did I realize that the staff of Hermiston Sanitary Service will not comb through the mountain of trash they unload daily for green-tipped CFL bulbs. The ordinary Hermistonian will likely throw their b...

Mercury: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 1 I'm green. My green is pale, but it's slowly growing darker. The more green I become, the more I dislike careless use and management of harmful chemicals in our water, food, medicine, and now...our light bulbs. Dislike is too wimpy. I am growing angry with careless regard for hazardous chemicals. My lightbulbs contain mercury. Your lightbulbs contain mercury if they are fluorescent, including the new Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL). They require 75% less energy than regular incandescent light bulbs, and they last up to 10 times longer. My electric utility company gave everyone in Hermiston a free box of ten CFL's. They're great . But they contain mercury. I've told you the good : CFL bulbs cost less in the long run and they consume less energy. Here's the bad: Mercury, the elemental mercury in the CFL bulbs, can cause: Tremors Mood swings Irritability nervousness Excessive shy...