Feb 17 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Dennis Lien Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

 

Conceding that Minnesota's efforts to cut mercury pollution have become bogged down, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Thursday he supports legislation in the upcoming session that would force coal-fired power plants to cut mercury emissions by 90 percent, well ahead of federal requirements.

Pawlenty's stance was announced at an unusual gathering of environmental, business and utility interests aimed at injecting fresh ideas into what's become a divisive, finger-pointing process.

In his letter, Pawlenty said the bill should require owners of the largest plants to submit their reduction plans to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Those plans, he said, should include the costs of taking action so the commission can protect consumers and utilities can recoup their expenses.

"The best way to proceed is to move boldly and decisively to resolve this issue by passing legislation this session," Pawlenty said.

He didn't mention a date, but the Bush administration has proposed capping mercury emissions nationally at 15 tons by 2018, a 70 percent reduction from current levels.

Environmental groups, which have accused the state Pollution Control Agency of being too cozy with business and utility interests regarding mercury, said Pawlenty didn't go far enough. They said if he was serious about reducing mercury pollution, he'd agree to order the agency to regulate polluters if lawmakers can't agree on a bill.

"The governor was very vague, and the devil is in the details," said Brian Pasko, legislative coordinator for the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Environmentalists said they would prefer Pawlenty support a bill already introduced by Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, and Rep. Ray Cox, R-Northfield, which would require a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions from those plants between 2009 and 2011.

Mike Robertson, environmental policy consultant for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said passing a bill this session could be difficult.

"The question is how do you fashion legislation where you can achieve consensus in such a short session," Robertson said. "That is the challenge."

The conference at MPCA's headquarters was an agency effort to bring opposing sides together to discuss the state's mercury situation and to generate new ideas. About 30 people met in small groups for more than an hour, with the agency monitoring the exchange.

During the past 15 years, mercury emissions in Minnesota have been reduced by 70 percent. But while great strides have been made voluntarily in some sectors, coal-fired power plants actually spew out more of the potent neurotoxin, prompting calls for quicker and stronger action.

For the past couple of years, the MPCA has been putting together a plan but has been under fire since environmentalists learned the agency briefed businesses privately and removed a target date for mercury reductions. MPCA Commissioner Sheryl Corrigan said the efforts to develop a plan would continue.

Mercury, which becomes airborne as a pollutant when coal and other substances are burned, falls from the atmosphere into lakes and rivers, is absorbed by microbes and then is consumed by fish. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates at least 15 percent of American children born each year are exposed to dangerous levels of mercury in the womb, mostly from fish eaten by their mothers.

Dennis Lien can be reached at dlien@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5588.