[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 98 (Thursday, July 18, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H4920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         STOP MERCURY EMISSIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, the Great Lakes are under attack from many 
environmental threats, such as invasive species, PCB contamination, and 
other aquatic pollutants. In the next week, along with the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Upton), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak), 
and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), I will be introducing the 
Great Lakes Mercury Reduction Act, which will prohibit the issuance of 
new permits under the Clean Air Act that will result in the deposition 
of any additional mercury into the Great Lakes.
  Our legislation seeks to halt new mercury pollution sources that 
would deposit further amounts of mercury into the Great Lakes. 
Currently, the technology does not exist to stop mercury emissions from 
already-permitted sources. Therefore, we should not allow construction 
of new mercury pollution sources.
  Our legislation will not affect existing sources already permitted 
under the Clean Air Act, but rather, will halt addition of new sources 
of mercury that will further degrade the Great Lakes with mercury 
pollution. Airborne mercury is the dominant source of mercury in the 
Great Lakes; and according to the Lake Michigan Federation, \1/70\ of a 
teaspoon of mercury can contaminate a 25-acre lake. Mercury quickly 
bioaccumulates, contaminating the food chain and making the fish of the 
lakes inedible by humans.
  The Federal Government must address mercury pollution, because 
sufficient reduction limits were not set in the Clean Air Act 
Amendments in 1990. The act only contained large general national 
emission numbers, and control studies monitoring the growing problems 
with mercury pollution. While the Clean Air Act required extensive 
studies of the potential dangers of mercury, it deferred much of the 
work on limiting mercury emissions to the States.
  In 1997, the United States and Canada, as part of the Great Lakes 
Binational Toxics Strategy, met to address strategies for eliminating 
toxic substances in the Great Lakes. These talks resulted in each 
nation agreeing to address a number of toxic emissions, including 
mercury. According to this agreement, the United States will seek to 
reduce airborne emissions of mercury by 50 percent, and Canada by 90 
percent by the year 2006.
  President Bush and the Congress both made the elimination of mercury 
pollution an environmental priority of this Congress. In his Clear 
Skies Initiative, President Bush seeks to cut mercury emissions up to 
69 percent and create the first-ever national cap for mercury 
emissions. Mercury emissions will be cut from current emissions from 48 
tons to a cap of 26 tons in 2010, and 15 tons in 2018. Likewise, two 
similar proposals in Congress will seek to cap mercury emissions for 
the first time ever for air quality improvements.
  In my district, Lake Michigan is the source of our drinking water, 
and the lake provides recreation in the summertime, and once provided 
fish for eating. We now know that Lake Michigan fish are harmful 
because of the toxins they contain. According to the EPA, each year 
over 3,000 pounds of mercury pollution are dumped into Lake Michigan, 
and 86 percent of that comes from direct atmospheric deposition. 
Recently, the North Shore Sanitary District obtained a permit from the 
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to build a sludge sewage 
incinerator on the shores of Lake Michigan in Waukegan, Illinois. If 
construction commences, the mercury emitted from this sludge 
incinerator will be the first new source of mercury pollution in the 
Great Lakes in over a decade.
  My top environmental goal in this Congress is to protect Lake 
Michigan and the Great Lakes. Earlier this year, I chaired the Nuclear 
Fuel Safety Caucus, which sought the safe removal of nuclear waste from 
key environmental ecosystems in the Great Lakes burdened with nuclear 
waste on our shores. The approval of the nuclear waste resolution in 
this Congress will make our 10th district nuclear free upon completion 
of the National Nuclear Waste Repository. But now, Congress must focus 
its attention on mercury pollution in the Great Lakes.
  Airborne mercury pollution is an issue which the Federal Government 
has ignored in years past. Further mercury pollution of the Great Lakes 
will irreparably damage our fragile ecosystem.
  I urge Members to support our bipartisan legislation. We joined in 
this effort to end mercury pollution in the Great Lakes just this week, 
but passage of our bill will go a long way to fulfilling our 
international commitments to our Canadian allies and fulfill the 
promise of President Bush's Clear Skies Initiative on mercury. But most 
importantly, Mr. Speaker, it will protect the mothers and children of 
the Midwest who are most at risk for mercury pollution.

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