"Five Chlorine Plants Refuse Mercury-Free Technology"

Five chlorine plants that are among the top mercury polluters in the United States would reap economic benefits if they eliminated mercury in chlorine production, Oceana (www.oceana.org) said today in a new report. The report analyzed over 115 chlorine plants that are shifting or have successfully shifted from mercury-based technology. The report also shows how the few remaining U.S. plants releasing hundreds of pounds of mercury into the air each year could make the switch and protect public health, the environment and increase profits, just by switching to mercury-free technology.

The study shows that switching to mercury-free technology - already in use by 90 percent of the chlorine producers in the United States - would increase energy efficiency, and an opportunity to increase capacity, sales and profits. Now a handful - five - facilities remain wedded to 110-year-old technology. The result is the release of four times more mercury per plant.

"The chlorine industry's dirty little secret is that five U.S. plants are releasing thousands of pounds of mercury into the environment each year," said Jackie Savitz, Director of Oceana's Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination. "Their refusal to switch to mercury-free technology - a cost-effective solution adopted by the majority of plants around the world - is an outrage that should concern citizens and shareholders alike. In some cases, plants have already spent nearly as much on mercury-related costs as they would have spent to convert their plants in the first place." The five plants - or Filthy Five as the report labels them - are Ashta Chemicals in Ashtabula, Ohio; Olin Corporation's two plants in Charleston, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga.; PPG Industries in Natrium, W.Va.; and ERCO Worldwide in Port Edwards, Wis...

Key findings of the report include:

· If the five eliminated mercury use, nearly 4,400 pounds of reported mercury emissions would be eliminated each year. (It takes just 1/70th of a teaspoon to contaminate a 25 acre lake.) This does not include mercury that is "lost" and not monitored at the plants, an amount that has rivaled power plant emissions in some years.

· Conversion of the five to mercury-free technology collectively would save the companies nearly $100 million dollars over five years in energy costs.

· Many plants also have increased production capacity by 20 to 80 percent in the process of converting, increasing their sales and profit.

· Both the ERCO plant in Wisconsin and the Olin plant in Tennessee are the number one mercury air polluters in their states, while Olin in Georgia and Ashta in Ohio are the third largest sources of mercury air pollution in their respective states. PPG in West Virginia is the top mercury releaser to water.

Chlorine is a chemical building-block used in everything from swimming pools to plastic tents to paper towels. Mercury-cell chlorine manufacturers produce chlorine by pumping a saltwater solution through a vat of mercury, or a mercury-cell, which catalyzes an electrolytic chemical reaction. Through this process, mercury pollution is released into the air and waterways and tons of mercury wastes are generated and disposed of.

Most human mercury exposure results from eating contaminated fish. Mercury is primarily a neurotoxin, which means once in the body it attacks the central nervous system. It can cause serious health problems, especially in children. Very high exposure levels lead to brain damage, mental retardation, blindness, seizures and speech problems. An EPA scientist has estimated that one in six women of child-bearing age has enough mercury in her blood to pose serious neurological risks to her developing child...