Oregon agency to form harsher mercury controls

PORTLAND – Stung by criticism, an Oregon agency said it will draft tougher rules to control mercury emissions from Portland General Electric’s coal-fired plant near Boardman.

“The reaction against our current proposal has been very strong,” said William Knight, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Quality. “We’re basically going to be starting over.”

Stephanie Hallock, the agency’s director, made the decision, he said.

New federal rules require states to limit mercury from coal-burning power plants, the largest national source of the toxic compound.

The DEQ proposal ran into criticism last week in hearings on its proposed rules.

The rules would allow the plant to continue releasing mercury by purchasing credits from cleaner coal plants elsewhere. The company would have until 2018 to install mercury controls that would cut the plant’s mercury emissions by at least 60 percent.

Other states are considering tighter controls. Washington and Montana are expected to call for 80 percent reductions. Some states don’t allow the offset purchases, forcing plants to install controls.

An alliance of states has sued the federal government for not requiring tougher standards.

PGE officials say mercury-control technologies are in early stages of development. They said that when they install controls, they want them to be as effective as possible.

Critics say control technologies are available.

Oregon’s largest source of mercury emissions is a cement kiln in the eastern Oregon town of Durkee that is not subject to any mercury-control regulations.

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber told the DEQ in 1999 to eliminate mercury releases statewide by 2020. But the agency concluded in 2002 that it could not meet the goal.

Knight said the agency will issue a more stringent mercury-control proposal in mid-July for another round of public review.