Hold the mercury

The King administration had the right idea reently in trying to persuade the federal government to store the 260,000 pounds of mercury from HoltraChem’s closed plant in Orrington. Though unsuccessful, the request highlighted the need for the country to develop a safe way to collect this heavy metal.

Gov. King had asked the Department of Defense to add HoltraChem’s mercury to the millions of pounds it holds from its own operations. DOD officials said they aren’t allowed, except in an emergency, to accept toxic or hazardous materials that didn’t come from the military, and the law backs them up on this. The mercury from Maine now appears headed for the international market, where some of it will be emitted as air pollution and fall back to earth. Mercury pollution is identified as a cause of blindness and deafness, harm to nervous systems and kidney damage.

Chlorine plants like HoltraChem traditionally have been heavy users of mercury, so the industry’s conversion to mercury-free processes is welcome. Similarly, producers of household goods like light bulbs, thermometers, thermostats and switches for several years have been reducing or eliminating mercury from their products. This change has caused a glut of mercury in the market and a sharp drop in price, making even more available to industrial users in countries where environmental regulations are noticeably less strict than in the United States. Because airborne mercury can travel around the planet before falling, the issue is of worldwide concern.

The Westlake facility, a chlor-alkalai plant with 400,000 pounds of mercury in Calvert City, Ky., is expected to stop using a mercury process in the next several months. Others are certain to follow. With the encouragement of Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Defense could create a safe, long-term repository for mercury to keep it out of the world market and the air. The future of HoltraChem’s mercury supply should be all the warning Washington needs.