Great
Lakes
National
Program
On the Web at:
www.epa.gov/greatlakes
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO)
Significant Activities Report
September 2004
IN THIS ISSUE:
Focus on Mercury
About Mercury
Lake Superior Mercury Issues
International Perspectives
Pollution Prevention Roundtable
Areas of Concern
River Raisin Sediments Sampled
»Grand Cal Area Sediment Probed
Cuyahoga River Symposium
About Mercury
Every year, an estimated 60,000 children
are born at risk of developmental deficits,
including decreased school performance, as
the result of exposure to methylmercury in
the womb, usually stemming from their
mother's consumption of contaminated fish.
Methylmercury is the organic form of mer-
cury that bioaccumulates in the environ-
ment. Exposure to elemental mercury vapor
in indoor air as the result of household or
workplace spills also poses a health threat.
Elemental or inorganic mercury released
into the environment as the result of human
activities can be converted into methylmer-
cury, and bioaccumulate up the food chain.
Releases of mercury into the air eventually
lead to contamination of water, because
mercury deposits from the atmosphere onto
land and water.
Mercury is a common element found natu-
rally in a free state or mixed with ores or
rocks. It is a volatile heavy metal that can
Mercury is a metal that is a liquid
at room temperature
exist in gas,
liquid, or solid
form, and is
the only heavy
metal that ex-
ists as a liquid
at room tem-
perature. Mer-
cury has high
electrical con-
ductivity, al-
loys with other
metals, and ex-
pands and con-
tracts evenly with temperature. Due to these
unique qualities, mercury has been used in
thousands of industrial, agricultural, medical,
and household applications.
As an element, mercury cannot be broken
down, diluted, or entirely eliminated from the
environment. Once deposited, it can be re-
emitted back into the atmosphere to be re-
deposited elsewhere. As mercury cycles be-
tween the atmosphere, land, and water, it un-
dergoes a series of complex chemical and
physical transformations.
Because of the recognized toxicity of mer-
cury, industrial demand for the substance has
declined significantly, due largely to the
elimination of mercury in paints and pesti-
cides, and the reduction of mercury in batter-
ies. Nevertheless, mercury contamination
continues to be one of the most frequent rea-
sons for fish consumption advisories issued
by States or Tribes.
For more information on mercury and efforts
underway to reduce its use and emissions in
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September 2004
Significant Activities Report
the Great Lakes, see the Great Lakes Bina-
tional Toxics Strategy Mercury Web Page
at: http://www.epa.gov/Region5/air/
mercury/binati onal.html
(Contact: Alexis Cain, 312-886-7018, cain.
alexis@epa.gov)
Lake Superior Mercury Issues
On September 9th and 10th, the Lake Supe-
rior Forum, the Lake Superior Task Force,
and representatives of industry met in Du-
luth, Minnesota, to talk about ways to fur-
ther reduce mercury exposure, use, and
emissions in the Lake Superior Basin, espe-
cially from the utility, taconite, oil, pulp and
paper, and municipal waste water treatment
industrial sectors. U.S. and Canadian offi-
cials provided presentations on the status of
their respective mercury regulatory struc-
ture, while industry representatives outlined
some of their recent and impressive mer-
cury-reduction initiatives. USEPA Air Divi-
sion's Alexis Cain and GLNPO's Ted
Smith and E.Marie Graziano presented an
overview of U.S. mercury regulations. An
industry/government workgroup was
formed to design a basin-wide mercury re-
duction project for FY 2005.
Some common themes that emerged during
the two-day session:
the need for "early reduction credits" as
an incentive;
the need for a "level playing field" and
more consistency (and a better commu-
nication) of applicable regulations;
the reality that industry decisions are
governed by tough economic times
rather than environmental concerns;
the need that successful projects and
strategies be shared basinwide;
the need for cleaner coal technologies;
the need for more research on the taco-
nite mining sector;
Cleaner coal technologies would reduce mercury
emissions from coal-fired electric utilities
the need to address global HQ sessions.
A volunteer group was formed to think of
ideas for a possible basinwide project (such
as a "collection" project or a "banning" pro-
ject). The first meeting of this group will be
scheduled in the near future.
(Contacts: Elizabeth LaPlante, 312-353-
2994, laplante.elizabeth@epa.gov; Alexis
Cain, 312-886-7018, cain.alexis@epa.gov;
Ted Smith, 312-353-6571, smith.
edwin@epa.gov; or E.Marie Graziano, 312-
886-6034, graziano.emarie@epa.gov)
International Perspectives
GLNPO's Todd Nettesheim participated in
the Mercury Roundtable #18: "Mercury: In-
ternational Perspectives" conference call on
September 15th. The Mercury Roundtable is
a regularly scheduled forum for discussing
science and its role in affecting policy re-
lated to mercury. The Roundtable is a joint
EPA and USGS effort that is open to all
representatives of Federal, State, interstate,
local, and tribal government agencies in the
United States, Canada, and Mexico. The
most recent Roundtable consisted of several
presentations on recent mercury monitoring,
modeling, and emission characterization ef-
forts on a global scale.
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
September 2004
Artisanal gold miners in Guinea
(photo courtesy of USAID)
Dr. Russell Bullock of EPA's Office of Re-
search and Development delivered a presen-
tation on "Global emissions and transport:
What is known and unknown." Melissa
Chan of DOE's National Energy Technol-
ogy Laboratory delivered a presentation on
mercury emissions inventory development
in China. Dr. Dan Jaffe with the University
of Washington-Bothell presented on the
"Transport and chemical processing of mer-
cury during long-range transport in the Pa-
cific." Dr. Marcello M. Viega of the Uni-
versity of British Columbia (and a consult-
ant to UNIDO) delivered a presentation on
mercury emissions from artisanal gold min-
ers.
(Contact: Todd Nettesheim, 312-353-9153,
nettesheim.todd@epa.gov)
Pollution Prevention Roundtable
GLNPO's Ted Smith participated in the
Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Roundta-
ble organization's Summer 2004 Roundta-
ble, held in Columbus, Ohio on September
22nd to 24th. Presentation topics included
pollution prevention at the Department of
Defense, Energy Efficiency in Ohio, Green
Buildings, pollution prevention in Transpor-
tation, pollution prevention in water, and
Industry Case Studies of accomplishments
using USEPA pollution prevention grant
funds.
Two researchers whose work was funded by
GLNPO grants made presentations:
Steve Brachman, of the University of Wis-
consin Solid and Hazardous Waste Exten-
sion Center presented on efforts to get mer-
cury amalgam out of waste water effluent in
Milwaukee.
Dr. Mark Stone of the Great Lakes Dental
Naval Research Institute (GLDNRI)
showed a DVD of Best Management Prac-
tices for dental amalgam, co-produced by
the GLNDRI and the American Dental As-
sociation (ADA). This DVD will be distrib-
uted to 45,000 dental offices in the Great
Lakes basin by the ADA, through a grant
from GLNPO. For a copy of the DVD,
please contact Ted Smith (see below).
More information on the Roundtable meet-
ing is available on the Web at: http://www.
glrppr.org/columbus2004/
(Contact: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571, smith.
edwin@epa.gov)
River Raisin Sediments Sampled
From September 21st to 23rd, the R/VMud-
puppy was in Monroe, Michigan for a fol-
low-up survey of PCB contamination in
sediments below the federal navigation
channel. A screening level study in 2003 by
GLNPO and Michigan DEQ indicated ele-
vated levels of PCB s below the federal
navigation channel have the potential to be
exposed during the Corps bi-annual mainte-
nance dredging. This year's survey seeks to
fill data gaps remaining from the 2003 study
and to obtain data to evaluate the feasibility
and cost of removing the contaminated ma-
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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September 2004
Significant Activities Report
terial during the Corps next scheduled
dredging event in 2006. A total of 14 sedi-
ment cores were collected and analyzed for
total PCBs and sediment grain size.
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski; cieniawski.
scott@epa.gov; 312-3539184).
Grand Cal Area Sediment Probed
The R/VMudpuppy, USEPA GLNPO's
sediment sampling vessel, was in East Chi-
cago, Indiana from September 13th to 18th to
provide field support to the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers. The GLNPO field team
collected 500 gallons of sediment from four
locations in the Indiana Harbor and Ship
Canal using the vibracorer on the Mud-
puppy. The sampling locations were previ-
ously identified as shoaled areas located pri-
marily within the federal channel where the
Corps will be dredging as part of the pro-
posed navigational dredging of the Indiana
Harbor and Canal, scheduled for Spring
2008. The sediment collected is to be used
in a wastewater treatability study to support
the design of a wastewater treatment plant
for the sediment confined disposal facility
which will contain sediment from the pro-
posed navigational dredging.
(Contact: Mary Beth G. Ross, 312-886-
2253, ross.marybeth@epa.gov)
Cuyahoga River Symposium
GLNPO's Vicki Thomas, Dan O'Riordan,
and Marcia Damato joined USEPA's Cleve-
land office's Dave Barna, Anne Marie Vin-
cent, Mark Moloney, and Paul Novak, at the
September 10th symposium "Investing in
Healthy Streams Sustains Healthy Commu-
nities" held in Richfield, Ohio. The meeting
was sponsored by the Cuyahoga River Re-
medial Action Plan. USEPA's Acting As-
sistant Administrator for Water, Ben Grum-
bles, delivered the luncheon keynote ad-
The upper Cuyahoga River flows through Ohio's only
National Park, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park
(photo courtesy of National Park Service)
dress. Vicki Thomas informed the sympo-
sium participants about the Great Lakes Ex-
ecutive Order. Others speakers at the well-
attended symposium included David Ull-
rich, representing the International Associa-
tion of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence May-
ors, and a number of local mayors.
(Contact: Dan O'Riordan, 312-312-886-
7981, oriordan.daniel@epa.gov)
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
September 2004
Jpcoming Events
October 6-8
November 30
December 1
December 3
2004
State of the Lakes Ecosys-
tem Conference: Toronto,
Canada
Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy Stake-
holder Forum: Chicago,
IL
Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy Integra-
tion Work Group Meet-
ing: Chicago, IL
Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration Meeting:
Chicago, IL
We welcome your questions, comments or
suggestions about this month's Significant
Activities Report. To be added to or re-
moved from the Email distribution of the
Significant Activities Report, please contact
Tony Kizlauskas, 312-353-8773,
kizlauskas.anthony@epa.gov.
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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