US EPA Sets Limits to Reduce Mercury Emissions from Cement Plants
August 11th, 2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing final rules that will cut emissions of mercury from Portland cement manufacturing, the third-largest source of mercury air emissions in the United States (Link to EPA press release).
This is the first time the federal government has restricted emissions from existing cement kilns. The regulations aim to reduce, by 2013, the annual emissions of mercury and particulate matter by 92 percent, hydrochloric acid by 97 percent and sulphur dioxide by 78 percent. The rules are expected to yield $7 to $19 in public health benefits for every dollar in costs. EPA estimates that the rules will yield $6.7 billion to $18 billion in health and environmental benefits, with costs estimated at $926 million to $950 million annually in 2013. Another EPA analysis estimates emission reductions and costs will be lower, with costs projected to be $350 million annually.
The cement industry waged an intense lobbying campaign against the regulations, which the EPA first proposed in 2009. The final rules slightly increase mercury limits, but EPA officials said the overall emissions limits did not “appreciably change” from what they first proposed, the Los Angeles Times reported. Patti Flesher, a spokeswoman for the Portland Cement Association, said that some of the 100 cement plants nationwide wouldn’t be able to meet the new standards and would have to close, the Miami Herald reported. (Link to Environmental Leader)
