Their study shows that the level of mercury in sediment at the bottom of New Yorks Central Park Lake is at least 10 times the amount found in some industrial areas.
The atmospheric input of mercury to the sediments is the highest I have ever seen. We know mercury is toxic, and we know it accumulates over time. The question is, is this acceptable? said Richard Bopp, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at Rensselaer and a leading authority on PCBs and other pollutants in the Hudson River, New York Harbor, and elsewhere.
Bopps findings are especially significant in light of this years power shortages in California and the ensuing controversy over coal-burning power plants. A recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicted that the emission of hazardous air pollutants by coal-fired utilities would increase 10 percent to 30 percent by the year 2010.
Bopps team studied core samples of lake sediment dating back to the 1860s. After consulting historical records of coal consumption in the city, Bopp concluded that domestic coal-fired stoves and furnaces, industrial fuel use, and coal-burning power plants left much of the toxic residue.
Bopps study showed the highest atmospheric inputs of mercury in levels of sediment dating from the early 1900s, when coal use peaked in the New York City area.
Last December, the EPA reported the emission of mercury as the greatest health concern posed by coal burning. Coal-fired plants in the United States emit an estimated 52 tons of mercury into the atmosphere per year.
The EPA believes a plausible link exists between the emission of mercury from coal-fired utilities and the amoun
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Contact: Megan Galbraith
galbrm@rrpi.edu
518-276-6050
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
14-Aug-2001