Idahoan's advocacy leads EPA to propose national gold mining rules to reduce mercury

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed cutting mercury emissions from gold ore processing and production facilities following years of advocacy from the Idaho Conservation League.

The EPA announced its proposed rule addresses the sixth largest source of mercury air emissions in the country. It is designed to reduce mercury, which can damage children's developing brains and nervous systems, even before they are born, IPA officials said.

EPA's proposal would reduce annual mercury emissions to about 1,390 pounds a year — a 73 percent reduction from 2007 levels.

"Taking mercury out of the air makes our communities safer for everyone," said Gina McCarthy assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "Our proposal will further progress that has already been made to limit mercury emissions from this industry."

That progress came after Justin Hayes of the Idaho Conservation League challenged a voluntary pollution reduction program the EPA put in place in Nevada in 2004. Idaho National Laboratory researchers demonstrated mercury emissions from Nevada gold mines were blown into Idaho by prevailing winds.

There are about 20 facilities in the United States that extract gold from ore that would be subject to the proposed rule. EPA officials said some facilities in Nevada already are making significant progress toward the proposed reductions under that state's program.

Mercury emitted to the air eventually settles in water, where it can change into methylmercury, which builds up in ocean and freshwater fish and can be highly toxic to humans who eat the fishˆ sometimes leading to fish consumption advisories to protect public health.

Hayes' wife Cyndi is a doctor who specializes in prenatal care and she taught him about the effects of mercury. They have two children, which prompted his interest in the issue.

Even Nevada environmentalists were convinced the problem wasn't as bad as Hayes said. But only 20 percent of the industry there was participating in the voluntary program.

Hayes rented a portable mercury monitor and went on a drive in 2005, beginning in southern Idaho into northern Nevada searching for mercury. He started on the Shoshone-Paiute's Duck Valley Indian Reservation that straddles the Nevada-Idaho border and immediately picked up higher than normal readings.

As he got closer to the Jerritt Canyon Mine 50 miles north of Elko, the readings rose to very high levels. He measured even higher levels near other Nevada mines that convinced him the voluntary mercury program wasn't doing enough.

Idaho officials came to the same conclusion when INL tests showed in 2005 that mercury levels in the air south of Twin Falls rose 30 to 70 percent higher than normal levels when winds blew from the southwest, where the gold mines are located.

In 2006, Nevada made the program mandatory and required all mines that emitted mercury above a certain level to use the maximum available technology for cutting mercury emissions.

Once the EPA sets the rules they will become the standard for the world's gold mining industry. EPA will take public comment on the proposed rule for 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.