Mercury pollution

The new head of EPA says the technology to eliminate 90% of mercury emmisions exists, and would cost 3.4 mil per coal burning utility plant. The cost to consumers would increase their bills by roughly 1.50 a month. Here's my question; If a child breaks a thermometer and mercury is spilled in a classroom, a haz-mat unit is called (fire dept. etc..) children and classroom must be decontaminated. There are no regulations whatsoever for utility co.s, and their mercury output is measured by the TON! We've all read the state wide fish consumption advisories, and if reading them isn't scary enough, try substituting the word cheeseburger or chicken for the word fish in the advisory. Would any of you object to paying that 1.50 (the price of a 16oz diet coke) extra a month to clean up the Commonwealth's greatest resource? Only Alaska has more navigable rivers and streams than we do. If the stupid government wants to regulate somthing, personally I feel they should start with this issue. Your thoughts.

I would gladly pay more than that if they could clean our air and water. I remember a time when squirrel hunting I would dip my hand in a running stream for a fresh drink. Not so anymore. I wont eat anything out of Green River lake. I dont know why anyone would with all the advisories! The ohio river is another example of pollution. If the government says only eat 1 meal a month from these waters you are taking a gamble to do that! I dont think your post will get very many positive reviews but you never know with this crowd.:confused:

I think that everyone on this site would agree that the mercury issue should be addressed. We all love and want to help our environment and would not mind paying a little more if it was needed . Heck we are outdoorsman.
However, I don't want anyone to get confused and think that "Cap and Trade" legislation is the answer.
Increasing the cost of companies to do business in the U.S. is only going to result in companies to move out of the U.S. to do business. Our exports will drop and imports will rise. And for companies to make up for operating costs two groups of people are going to pay for the operating increases. Consumers and workers wages of which everyone is part of if you are going to buy anything made in the U.S.
So 3.4 million per plant to fix these plants? There were 617 coal plants operating in the U.S. in 2007. That would equal 2.1 Billion to fix the problem. How much money was wasted on CEO's, Bankers, and other companies that were mismanaged? Not to mention how much money goes to special interest groups like ACORN, ACLU and others? Perhaps some of these groups would like to donate money to fix the problem? Or Al Gore or George Soros could doanate the dough to pay for it. Not gonna happen. Maybe our government should manage our money better for all our sakes.

I hear you Cork. This is a pretty tough playground, and sometimes folks get sand kicked in their face, but it's a good crowd. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say everybody on this board cares about the quality of the water they fish in and the fish they may or may not want to take home to eat here in the state of Kentucky. That said, I don't care if you're a UK fan or a UofL fan, a republican or a democrat, mercury will still poison your young child or pregnant wife just the same. I'm hoping this is the one very important issue, which I feel is being criminally overlooked, that we can all discuss as fishermen, not partisans.

Dang Bassius, you're super close on this one. You make 2.1 billion sound cheap! We just flushed 2 bil down the toilet on the clunker program. New KIA or clean water? Hmmm. I also do not like cap and trade, but probably for different reasons. It simply allows existing coal burning facilities in our neighborhood to continue their emission levels, but at a cost. Which of course is translated into your monthly bill. And again, mercury is not addressed at all. And again....as fishermen.

[QUOTE=KyDr.B;379744]Dang Bassius, you're super close on this one. You make 2.1 billion sound cheap! We just flushed 2 bil down the toilet on the clunker program. New KIA or clean water? Hmmm. I also do not like cap and trade, but probably for different reasons. It simply allows existing coal burning facilities in our neighborhood to continue their emission levels, but at a cost. Which of course is translated into your monthly bill. And again, mercury is not addressed at all. And again....as fishermen.[/QUOTE]

Thats what I am saying here. Each and everyone of us woud not mind paying the 1.50 for making our environment better. Our country is reliant on these plants for sustaining our way of life and national security. Our government would be better investing in these issues with our money than on these other special interests. 2.1 Billion is not a small piece of change but when you compare it to what has been spent and what it was spent on. I would say its pretty insignificant and would have been money actually well spent on investing in our future. So better government not bigger government. I am not trying to be partisan or trying to kick sand. And I don't care if someone is Rep or Dem or Ind. If they cant do whats right I will throw any of them under the bus if they deserve it...and frankly about all of them do.

[QUOTE=bassiusmaximus;379746]Thats what I am saying here. Each and everyone of us woud not mind paying the 1.50 for making our environment better. Our country is reliant on these plants for sustaining our way of life and national security. Our government would be better investing in these issues with our money than on these other special interests. 2.1 Billion is not a small piece of change but when you compare it to what has been spent and what it was spent on. I would say its pretty insignificant and would have been money actually well spent on investing in our future. So better government not bigger government. I am not trying to be partisan or trying to kick sand. And I don't care if someone is Rep or Dem or Ind. If they cant do whats right I will throw any of them under the bus if they deserve it...and frankly about all of them do.[/QUOTE]
Point well made sir.

Yes, mercury is a huge issue. Seafood retailers have long glossed over the issue. The longer a speicies lives, the more mercury is bioaccumulated. We all know that long lived pelagic species sucah as tuna and swordfish have mercury. I was shocked to see the advisories for lake cumberland bass in the last KY fish and wildlife book. Where is the public outcry?? Mercury levels in freshwater species is not just an outdoorsman issue, but a public health issue and should be addressed.

[QUOTE=slippedcork;379738]I would gladly pay more than that if they could clean our air and water. I remember a time when squirrel hunting I would dip my hand in a running stream for a fresh drink. Not so anymore. I wont eat anything out of Green River lake. I dont know why anyone would with all the advisories! The ohio river is another example of pollution. If the government says only eat 1 meal a month from these waters you are taking a gamble to do that! I dont think your post will get very many positive reviews but you never know with this crowd.:confused:[/QUOTE]

I'm with you there, I don't like the idea of eating portions of mercury contaminated fish. I just practice catch and release anyway. What crowd are you talking about??

[QUOTE=DJD;379805]I'm with you there, I don't like the idea of eating portions of mercury contaminated fish. I just practice catch and release anyway. What crowd are you talking about??[/QUOTE]
I steped on my tongue on this one. Sorry for the bad choice of words.:o I should not have grouped most of you in this topic. We all care for the environment and I just figured it would turn to a political debate about cap and trade which it did not. Sorry.:)

[QUOTE=slippedcork;379897]I steped on my tongue on this one. Sorry for the bad choice of words.:o I should not have grouped most of you in this topic. We all care for the environment and I just figured it would turn to a political debate about cap and trade which it did not. Sorry.:)[/QUOTE]

Fish wouldn't taste the same without that mercury flavor!