A state plan that allows dramatic increases in mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants would jeopardize public health, according to a coalition of local governments.
The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission is set to consider today the health department’s first-ever statewide plan to regulate mercury emissions from 12 power plants. Utilities and local governments have submitted separate plans.
The proposed state rule would allow the release of 894 pounds of mercury a year among the plants – an amount regulators say is based on actual emissions in 2005. In 2018, that allowance would fall to 558 pounds a year. Mercury releases of up to 1,412 pounds – the amount allowed under the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Clean Air Mercury Rule” – would be permitted as part of a trading program.
“The EPA proposal and state proposal regarding emission trading is completely inappropriate,” said Pam Milmoe, air/waste coordinator for Boulder County Public Health. “Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin, and there’s increasingly solid evidence that speaks to local impacts from power plants.”
The local-government coalition, which includes Denver, Fort Collins and Aspen, says that mercury is a dangerous pollutant to trade given its ability to accumulate in the food chain. It also argues that mercury emissions in Colorado are lower than the industry-reported 894 pounds.
State health officials, however, say their rule strikes a balance between protecting public health and giving utilities flexibility.
Paul Tourangeau, director of the department’s air pollution control division, said that uncertainty clouds the amount of mercury that power plants are releasing because of the absence of specific monitoring requirements.
Just this year, Xcel Energy became the first utility in the state to install a continuous emission monitoring system at its Comanche plant near Pueblo.
Jim Sanderson, attorney for the Colorado Utilities Coalition, said recent monitoring efforts indicate the plants may already be emitting more than 1,412 pounds of mercury a year, and utilities want their full allowance under the federal rule.
“As every year goes by, we know more about mercury emissions,” he said. “But to say anyone knows what actual emissions are is not correct.”
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-954-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.
