Nevada Mercury Pollution Higher than Expected
File all alerts about mercury pollution under Shocking Facts. It turns out that the mercury from Nevada gold mines polluting our air has been under-reported.
“Nevada is one of the nation’s top mercury hot spots,” said Bonnie Gestring of EARTHWORKS, a national watchdog group. “People have a right to know how much toxic mercury is released near their home and workplace.”
The mercury in this case comes from gold mining, but keep in mind that Utah’s coal power also adds mercury to our atmosphere. Read the whole press release for a solid jolt.
New emissions data, obtained from the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP), show that northern Nevada gold mines are still under-reporting substantial amounts of mercury air pollution. It also reveals that a number of mines that were previously considered small sources of mercury air pollution are actually very large sources, yet these mines have few pollution controls in place. Until 2006, mines were not required to actually measure mercury releases, only estimate mercury emissions.
Mercury exposure is a serious pubic health concern, particularly for children. Exposure to mercury can cause significant neurological and developmental problems such as attention and language deficits, impaired memory and impaired vision and motor function.
“We now know that hundreds of pounds of mercury are needlessly going into our air from mines that have minimal controls in place,” said John Hadder of Great Basin Mine Watch. “This new information is a wake-up call. We want the State and industry to agree to get controls in place right away.”
- Press release from Earthworks, Washington, D.C., November 2007.
More resources on mercury pollution
- Mercury Information, from Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
- Mercury Pollution Primer from Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy includes legislative history up to 2005.
- Protect Babies, a Pennsylvania citizens’ group fighting mercury pollution.
- UN meeting on mercury in Bankok / Nairobi - “Global Agreement on Mercury Pollution Focus of International Meeting,” November 12, 2007. Includes more UN documents on global mercury pollution.