Ripples

Frisco Adopts Aggressive Plan to Fight Mercury
Since the California Gold Rush, San Francisco Bay has been inundated with mercury. Miners used 26 million pounds of mercury to extract gold from California’s Coastal Range. Today, mercury from polluted stormwater runoff, industrial wastewater, atmospheric deposition and mercury-laden sediments continue to foul the bay. This July, after over a century of contamination and after nearly a decade of advocacy, San Francisco Baykeeper and partners succeeded in forcing the state to adopt a tough plan to reduce mercury pollution in the bay.

The new plan requires all sources of mercury, both old and new, to limit pollution to the bay. Under the plan historic sources like gold mines and contaminated bay sediment will be inventoried for cleanup. Present day sources of mercury such as stormwater and industrial waste will now face tighter restrictions. Cities must reduce mercury in polluted stormwater from city streets, sidewalks and buildings by 50 percent. Industries must reduce mercury in their wastewater discharges by 20 to 40 percent. And oil refineries, which contribute as much as 3,700 pounds of mercury in the Bay Area environment annually, now have to account for the mercury in crude oil.

The plan also includes strict new requirements to help communities who rely on the bay for food. Up until now, the state has posted warning signs alerting fishermen and women of the dangers of mercury contamination in fish. But the reach of these signs is limited. The rusting, sometimes illegible or misplaced signs prove ineffective for the most vulnerable communities, who may be illiterate or non-English speaking. Traditional signage also fails to recognize that communities who rely on free fish and seafood from the bay cannot afford to take contamination into account. The new plan requires local agencies and industries to generate and fund new protective actions to educate at-risk communities about safer food sources and train medical workers to better recognize and treat signs of mercury poisoning.

Currently, about 2,645 pounds of mercury enter the San Francisco Bay annually. The plan aims to slash the amount of mercury entering the bay down to 1,540 pounds, a reduction of more than 40 percent. The plan also includes a new process Baykeeper and other organizations can use to force the state to revise and further improve the plan based on new evidence. “Every little bit of mercury that enters the bay is potentially harmful,” said Sejal Choksi, San Francisco Baykeeper. “I am optimistic that we may be able to use this strong new framework to slash the mercury problem in the bay.”

El Segundo Power Plant To Stop Ocean Intake
Santa Monica Bay, CA
In a landmark action, NRG Energy announced their intention to convert El Segundo, the company’s Santa Monica California power plant, to a closed-cycle cooling system, eliminating the use of Santa Monica Bay seawater as a coolant. The once-through cooling technology now used at the plant kills massive amounts of fish and other marine life. Last year, both the California State Lands Commission and Ocean Protection Council adopted resolutions dissuading the use of this antiquated technology in California. These actions were followed by a ruling from the a federal court in January 2007 in favor of a coalition of environmental groups, including plaintiffs Waterkeeper Alliance, Santa Monica Baykeeper and Hudson Riverkeeper, concluding that the Environmental Protection Agency shall require power plants to protect aquatic habitats and employ the best technology available. “Our victory in the federal courtroom is bringing life back into the Santa Monica Bay,” said Tracy Egoscue, Santa Monica Baykeeper.

Causeway Will Be Removed
Petitcodiac River, Canada
In 1968, the province of New Brunswick, Canada, constructed a kilometer-long causeway across the Petitcodiac River with little regard to conservation or estuarine concerns. The causeway is essentially an earthen dam that interrupts the natural flow of water in the river. With the river blocked, fish populations have plummeted, native fish species have become extinct and the size of the river has been significantly reduced.
Petitcodiac Riverkeeper has been working for eight years through outreach and legal action to remove the causeway. This August, in a giant step forward for the Petitcodiac River, a provincial minister publicly announced New Brunswick’s commitment to replace the causeway with a 280-meter long bridge that will restore the flow of the river. Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is now putting their efforts towards urging the federal government to assist with the cost of the bridge.