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| Introduction |
There has been a lot of talk about mercury, especially as it relates to coal-fired power plants.
That's because the issue of mercury – where it comes from and its impact – is complex. We at Santee Cooper know there are questions, and we want to address them responsibly and accurately.
Here's the good news: mercury isn't as daunting as some would have you believe.
But because the issue of mercury is of interest to many people, we would like to shed some light on the topic.
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EPA Facts: Only About 1% of the World's Mercury Emissions Are Produced by U.S. Power Plants
The contribution of U.S. power plants to worldwide mercury emissions is very small: about 1%.8 9
More than 50% of the world's emissions are generated in Asian power plants, the majority of which lack the level of environmental control technology now required in the U.S and at Santee Cooper facilities. And since mercury emissions travel so far, the measured levels of mercury in the U.S. far exceed the amount of mercury produced here.10 11
Santee Cooper is doing all it can to limit the amount of mercury that is emitted into our environment. According to the EPA, mercury emissions are a global policy issue, not solely a U.S. one.12 To fully address mercury emissions, it will take all industries and all nations working together to reduce man-made emissions.
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8 U.S. EPA, Clean Air Mercury Rule, www.epa.gov/air/mercuryrule/basic.htm#global
9 Additional information, United Nations Global Mercury Assessment, Table 6.1, pg. 89, http://www.chem.unep.ch/MERCURY/Report/Final%20report/final-assessment-report-25nov02.pdf 10 U.S.EPA, Mercury Emissions: The Global Context, op. cit.
11 U.S. EPA, Mercury Deposition in the United States, http://www.epa.gov/air/mercuryrule/pdfs/slide2rev1.pdf
12 U.S. EPA, Mercury Emissions: The Global Context, op. cit.
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