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The EPA has formally proposed new regulations to limit the mercury emissions from cement kilns to 43 pounds per million tons of production. They arrived at this figure by examining the top 1/8 of kilns in the US (Recall during our earlier post on Keith Barnett’s presentation that MACT Standards, by law, may be no less stringent than the average emissions from the “best 12 percent” or ‘cleanest’ plants already in operation where data is available).
The PCA is pointing out that mercury emissions have more to do with the raw materials available than the overall operation. In a press release they argue the regulations are unfair and overly burdensome. A PCA spokesman estimates that cement imports could rocket to 43% of demand if the regulation is put in place as currently written.
A spokesman for the EPA says they are in “listening mode” at this time and will consider suggestions from the cement industry.
The Dallas News reported from the EPS public hearing, one of three to be held around the country this week on the subject. As might be expected, the members of the public who attended were not sympathetic to the concerns of the industry.
Edgar Stahl, said he was unsympathetic with industry concerns over the rule’s cost. “Put them out of business until they can make clean cement,” Stahl declared.
The EPA’s proposal to require reductions in mercury and other pollutants from cement kilns is called Proposed Amendments to National Air Toxics Emissions Standards for Portland Cement Manufacturing. You can read the proposal and related documents at www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/pcem/pcempg.html.
As recommended by Richard Pleus, Ph.D. Toxicology, who spoke at the recent IEEE Technical Conference on the subject of Mercury Emissions, “We all want to protect human health and the environment, but in order to do so”:
1. Educate yourself (science needs reliable data – not public opinion – to make good business decisions)
2. Get the science right – “all things are poison and nothering is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous”.
- one nanogram is equal to one drop of detergent in enough water to fill a string of railroad cars ten miles long.
- one part per billion is 1 second in 32 years.
3. Understand whether the problem is local or global (volcanic eruptions in the South Pacific cause mercury deposition along the Northern Pacific coast of the US)
4. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
The EPA will take written comments until Sept. 4; then it will consider the comments and issue a final rule by March 31. To comment on the proposal, refer to EPA docket number EPA-HQ-OAG-2002-0051 and use one of the following methods.
Online: Go to www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: Send a message to a-and-r-docket@epa.gov.
Mail: EPA Docket Center (6102T)
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0051
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460