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<h2><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal'>Note: This Web site, <a
href="http://www.carrtracks.com/cement.htm">http://www.carrtracks.com/cement.htm</a>,
says we have four cement plants in Oklahoma … don’t know how
accurate it is. Would be interesting to know how much mercury these plants are
emitting and how, under the new EPA rules, Oklahoma’s DEQ is dealing with
the emissions in Oklahoma.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2>Mountains of mercury<o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=documentsubheadline>The pollution costs of
cement production</span> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=meta-articletype>News</span> - <span
class=meta-date><a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.1">From the January 11,
2010 issue of High Country News</a> </span><span class=meta-author>by Jeremy
Miller</span> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The whole matter of the missing mercury might have slipped
by, unnoticed. But Patty Jacobs, a permit writer for the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality, decided to check the math. <br>
<br>
In 2005, after a federal mercury-reduction rule was passed (since vacated by
the U.S. Court of Appeals), Jacobs and the nation's other regulators began paying
attention to coal-fired power plants, a major source of the mercury building up
in the nation's waterways. The Boardman plant, a coal-fired facility 160 miles
east of Portland, reported that it had put 281 pounds of it into the air that
year. That ostensibly made the plant the largest mercury source in Jacobs'
territory, which covered much of central and eastern Oregon.<br>
<br>
Even small amounts of mercury can cause harm. Once the metal is deposited in a
lake or river, bacteria convert it to an organic form called methylmercury.
>From there, it works its way upward through aquatic microorganisms and insects,
intensifying in the tissue of fish and, eventually, in the animals and people
that consume them. Exposure to high levels of mercury causes reproductive declines
and developmental problems in wildlife. Human babies exposed in utero suffer an
increased risk of neurological disorders, including attention deficit and
impaired coordination. In adults, mercury consumption has been linked to memory
loss, muscle tremors and impaired vision.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Other highlights from the article:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><i>On the way to Durkee, we passed
the husk of the old cement plant at Lime, which operated from 1922 to 1980.
Hayes commented that it would make a good set for a post-apocalyptic, Mad
Max-type action film. He's right, but the site is unlikely to be used for
anything anytime soon. According to the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality, its soil is heavily contaminated with PCBs, arsenic, residual
petroleum and hydrocarbons –– the toxic byproducts of six decades
of cement manufacturing.</i><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><i>During heating, the limestone is
chemically transformed into "clinker," pebble-like pellets that are
mixed with a little gypsum and ground into the fine flour we know as cement.
The process releases large quantities of carbon dioxide and — in the case
of Durkee — vast amounts of mercury vapor. Mercury is also released from
the coal burned as fuel in the kiln, but the amount is minuscule compared to
what's baked out of the limestone. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><i>Even if the laws could be
tightened tomorrow — and mercury emissions could be "turned
off" like water from a tap — the problems would persist for decades,
says Don Essig, a water quality specialist with the Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality. Like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mercury remains
in aquatic ecosystems for a long time.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><i>Worldwide, cement production
contributes significantly to climate change, with cement plants accounting for
roughly 5 percent of manmade carbon dioxide emissions. Coal and petroleum coke
are the most common fuel sources, but a number of plants are permitted to burn
"alternative" fuels, including slaughterhouse waste, old tires and
railroad ties.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><i>The mercury reduction agreement
reached between the company and state in 2008 requires an 85 percent cut in
emissions. However, that will be overridden if the EPA rules go into effect
next year, says Douglas Welch, an engineer with the Oregon State Department of
Environmental Quality. The new federal rules would require the Durkee plant to
cut mercury by about 98 percent by 2013, a goal Welch doubts is attainable.</i><i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'>Full
article here ::: <a
href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.1/mountains-of-mercury/article_view?b_start:int=2&-C">http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.1/mountains-of-mercury/article_view?b_start:int=2&-C</a>=.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";
color:black'>Shauna, OKC<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><i><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"'>Imagine, innovate,
create, collaborate<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:#365F91'><a
href="http://www.sustainableokc.org"><span style='line-height:150%;color:#365F91;
text-decoration:none'>www.sustainableokc.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:#365F91'><a
href="http://www.transitiontownokc.com"><span style='line-height:150%;
color:#365F91;text-decoration:none'>www.transitiontownokc.com</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:#365F91'><a
href="http://www.goinglocalokc.com"><span style='line-height:150%;color:#365F91;
text-decoration:none'>www.goinglocalokc.com</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:#365F91'><a
href="http://thinklady.typepad.com%20/"><span style='line-height:150%;
color:#365F91;text-decoration:none'>http://thinklady.typepad.com /</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:#365F91'><a
href="http://freshgreens.typepad.com/"><span style='line-height:150%;
color:#365F91;text-decoration:none'>http://freshgreens.typepad.com/</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Webdings;
color:green'>P</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:navy'> </span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:8.0pt;color:green'>please
don't print this e-mail unless you really need to</span><span style='font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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