Mercury limits signed into law

05/12/2006

Pawlenty ceremony at White Bear Lake

BY DENNIS LIEN
Pioneer Press

With fish-consumption advisories for mercury in place across Minnesota and the state’s fishing opener only days away, Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill Thursday described as one of the best mercury-reduction efforts in the nation.

Pawlenty signed the bill near White Bear Lake, where many anglers will begin fishing Saturday for walleye and northern pike, predator fish that can carry worrisome levels of mercury in their tissue.

The legislation, approved unanimously in recent weeks by the Senate and House, requires the state’s largest coal-fired power plants to cut mercury emissions by 90 percent by 2015, a faster pace than a federal requirement of 70 percent by 2018. The effort is projected to cut the state’s overall annual mercury emissions by one third, or 1,200 pounds.

Coal-burning power plants are the largest source of uncontrolled mercury emissions in Minnesota and nationwide.

Mercury is a neurotoxin that can cause developmental problems for people, particularly infants and young children. Pregnant women or women of childbearing age also should be especially careful because of potential problems for developing fetuses.

In recent years, the state has placed fish-consumption advisories on lakes and rivers to advise people how much of which fish they can safely eat. Generally, smaller, younger fish are safer to eat than larger, older ones.

General and site-specific guidelines are available on the Minnesota Department of Health’s Web site. Go to http://www.health.state.mn.us and type “fish” in the search area, or go directly to http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/index.html.

People without Internet access can call the department at 1-800-657-3908 or 651-201-4911 for further information.

The bill signed by Pawlenty affects Xcel Energy plants in Oak Park Heights and Becker and a Minnesota Power plant near Grand Rapids. The bill requires the utilities to phase in controls at generating units there as soon as 2009 and finish the work in 2014.