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Mercury in Minnesota — Research and Reduction Initiative

Mercury in Minnesota

Many of Minnesota's lakes already have too much mercury contamination. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has issued fish consumption advisories for fish from lakes where the fish have been tested and found to be contaminated with too much mercury.

• Minnesota's Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program
• Fish Consumption Advisories
• Sources of Mercury Pollution and the Methylmercury Contamination of Fish in Minnesota

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Science Museum of Minnesota and others have been studying the problem of mercury in Minnesota's lakes too. This environmental research will help the state find ways to prevent mercury contamination.

By taking core samples of lake sediments and analyzing them for mercury, MPCA and Science Museum scientists can estimate where the mercury came from and begin tracking trends in mercury contamination.

A recent study indicates that less mercury is getting into Minnesota lake sediments than in the past, while studies in Alaska show that mercury from global sources is continuing to rise. If this increase in global mercury continues without corresponding local and regional decreases, mercury contamination in Minnesota fish will also rise.

Wetlands are a major site where inorganic mercury deposited from the atmosphere is converted to methylmercury, the bioaccumulative form of mercury that leads to fish consumption advisories.  An MPCA study conducted with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant addressed the question, "How do constructed stormwater wetlands compare to natural wetlands in the production of methylmercury, given the important differences in hydrologic and pollutant loads?"  The study collected water chemistry data from 10 urban stormwater wetlands, nine of which are designed to treat stormwater before entering a lake.  The study results showed a strong relationship between phosphorus concentrations and methylmercury concentrations in stormwater wetlands.  It also found that stormwater wetlands are very similar to natural wetlands in methylmercury levels.

• Effectiveness of Stormwater Ponds/Constructed Wetlands in the Collection of Total Mercury and Production of Methylmercury (May 2007)
• Socioeconomic Consequences of Mercury Use and Pollution (Ambio, February 2007)

Minnesota's Mercury Initiative

State and federal mercury laws have been effective, but we must do more. The MPCA has studied its options, with the help of a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the assistance of a group of other interested people. This Advisory Council studied the issues and made recommendations in 1998.

The MPCA's goals for the Mercury Contamination Reduction Initiative were to:

• Significantly reduce mercury contamination,
• using cost-effective methods, and
• working in cooperation with everyone who has an interest in the results.

Publications

Additional information about the mercury initiative is available in the following publications.

• 2005 Mercury Reduction Progress Report to the Minnesota Legislature
  • Appendix A: Mercury Emission Inventory for Minnesota
  • Appendix B
    • Alliant Energy Voluntary Mercury Reduction Agreement Progress Report
    • Metropolitan Council Environmental Services Voluntary Mercury Reduction Agreement
    • Minnesota Power Voluntary Mercury Reduction Agreement Progress Report
    • Otter Tail Power Company Voluntary Mercury Reduction Agreement Progress Report
    • Taconite Industry Combined Voluntary Mercury Reduction Agreement Progress Reports
    • Western Lake Superior Sanitary District Voluntary Mercury Reduction Agreement Progress Report
    • Xcel Energy Voluntary Mercury Reduction Agreement Progress Reports
  • Appendix C: Minnesota Strategies to Reduce Mercury Emissions
    
    
    
• Mercury Reduction Program - 2002 Report to the Legislature
  • Appendix A. Human Health Risk Summaries, Appendix B. State Mercury Release Inventory, October 2001, and Appendix C. Mercury Reduction Program Summary (1.4 MG)
  • Attachment 1 to Appendix D. NEAPOL Questionnaire (14 MG)
  • Attachment 2 to Appendix D. Voluntary Agreements (5 MG)
  • Attachment 3 to Appendix D. Progress Reports (3.9 MG)
  • Attachment 4 to Appendix D. Further Reading on Voluntary Agreements (120 K)
    
    
• Comments and Responses to Draft 2001 Mercury Reduction Program: Progress Report to the Legislature
• Draft Mercury Policy (revised July 2001)
  • Comment Letters on the July Mercury Policy (August 10, 2001)
  • Mercury Policy Comment Letters (Note: this is a large file - 8 MB)
    
    
• Economic Benefits of Reducing Mercury Deposition in Minnesota
  
  
• Substance Flow Analysis of Mercury in Products (August 2001)
  
  
• Report on the Mercury Contamination Reduction Initiative Advisory Council's Results and Recommendations
  
  
• Strategy Evaluation Process and Criteria Definitions, May 1998
  
  
• Mercury in Minnesota's Environment, April 1998 - a general fact sheet on mercury
  
  
• MPCA Voluntary Mercury Reduction Agreements: Program Guidelines
  
  
• Fact sheet about the Mercury-Free Zone Program
  
  
• Permitting Strategy for Addressing Mercury in Municipal and Industrial Wastewater Permits
  
  
• Minnesota's Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program
  
  
• Report to the Advisory Council of the MPCA Mercury Contamination Reduction Initiative - from the Source Reduction Feasibility and Reduction Strategies Committee (SRFRS)
  • Section 1 - 5: Executive Summary, Introduction, Committee Goals and Membership, Option Development Process, and Strategy Development
  • Sections 6 - 7: Summary of Results and Recommendations
  • Section 8: Detailed Option Descriptions
  • Section 9: Detailed Strategy Descriptions
  • Sections 10 - 15: Summary of Option and Strategy Evaluation Criteria, Suggested Outline and Questions for Describing Options, Letter from MPCA to Mercury Release Sources Requesting Data, Taconite Process Description, Description of Minnesota's Public Review Process for Proposed New Electric Generating Facilities, Economic Impact Analysis of the Sec's "Short List" of Mercury Reduction Strategies

Voluntary Agreements to Reduce Mercury Releases

Minnesota firms participating in the Mercury Contamination Reduction Initiative have prepared plans that describe their voluntary agreements to reduce mercury releases. These plans are available below.

• Alliant Energy Voluntary Agreement
• EVTAC Mining Voluntary Agreement
• Great River Energy Vountary Agreement
• Hibbing Taconite Company Voluntary Agreement
• Ispat Inland Mining Voluntary Agreement
• Koch Petroleum Group's Pine Bend Refinery Voluntary Agreement
• LTV Steel Mining Company Voluntary Agreement
• Metropolitan Council Environmental Services Voluntary Agreement
• Minnesota Power Voluntary Agreement
• Northshore Mining Company Voluntary Agreement
• National Steel Pellet Company Voluntary Agreement
• Northern States Power Company Voluntary Agreement
• Olmsted County Voluntary Agreement
• Otter Tail Power Company Voluntary Agreement
• Western Lake Superior Sanitary District Voluntary Agreement