Texas power plants among worst mercury polluters, environmental groups say

By J.B. SMITH
Tribune-Herald staff writer
10/28/04

Texas power plants are among the worst mercury polluters in the nation, according to new data that environmental groups say adds fuel to their argument against a new proposed coal-fired plant in Riesel.

The Limestone Electric Generating Station near Jewett topped the national list of mercury polluters, emitting 1,800 pounds of the toxin in 2002, according to Environmental Protection Agency data cited by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Four other Texas plants were included in the national top 10 list.

In a news conference Wednesday, local opponents of LS Power's Riesel project joined with representatives of Public Citizen and the local Two Rivers Sierra Club to call for a halt to coal plants in this area.

"We don't need a dirty coal plant to be permitted which will emit 1,180 pounds a year of additional mercury, with this much mercury already being emitted within 30 miles," said Robert Cervenka, a Riesel-area rancher and a member of Texans Protecting our Water, Environment and Resources.

The Limestone County plant, owned by Texas Genco of Houston, is actually about 60 miles from Waco. It was ranked as sixth in the nation for mercury pollution the previous year.

Meanwhile, LS Power applied for a permit to emit up to 1,180 pounds of mercury per year, which could have allowed it to join the top 10 list of mercury polluters.

But that's not going to happen, said Randy Hamilton, a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality specialist working on the LS permit.

He said new federal rules that due in early 2005 are likely to put much stricter mercury limits on new power plants. As a result, the LS plant would likely be restricted to about 140 pounds of mercury emissions per year.

Mercury, which can accumulate in fish and cause birth defects and developmental problems in children, has been regulated as an air toxin for 35 years. But power plants, which produce 60 percent of the nation's airborne mercury, have been exempt from regulations.

That will change next year, but which rules will be adopted is a matter of hot dispute. A federal advisory committee wanted cuts of 90 percent at power plants by 2008, but the Bush administration favors a more gradual approach that would allow companies to "trade" pollution credits. The plan would result in cuts of 70 percent by 2018.

Those standards won't cut it, said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen's Texas office, at a news conference Wednesday in Waco.

He said the federal government needs to adhere to the 90 percent cuts, and the Texas Legislature should fund more testing of mercury in all Texas lakes. In the meantime, he said coal plants should be discouraged.

"New coal plants make no sense, especially when energy efficiency and clean wind and solar energy could be used instead," he said.

And while Smith said the new federal rules that would cut mercury emissions are an improvement, he said that "it only takes a teaspoon to poison a 20-acre lake."

Ben Carmine, director of environmental operations for Texas Genco, said his company is testing new technologies to reduce mercury emissions significantly. About half the emissions are removed under traditional "scrubbers" on smokestacks, but technology to reduce it further is not widely available or well-tested, he said.

Mike Vogt, spokesman for LS Power in St. Louis, said he is confident the new federal rules will protect public health and safety.

"The rules coming down from the EPA will set the standard we have to meet," he said. "The EPA's job is to evaluate the standards against the facts of science."

The city of Waco has already worked out a deal to sell treated wastewater to the Riesel plant, and the city and the county are considering giving about $5 million in industrial incentives for the plant.

City Manager Larry Groth said the city and county won't sign off on those incentives until LS Power has a permit, which will specify emission standards for the plant.

"I don't know that we're satisfied one way or the other," Groth said of the plant's potential environmental impact. "We're waiting to see what the final design is going to be. At some point, we're going to get the final numbers."

TCEQ officials expect to hold a public meeting on the plant in early 2005, and the state commission could grant permission for an official contested case hearing, which plant opponents want.

JB Smith can be reached at 757-5752 or at jbsmith@wacotrib.com.

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