Minnesota To Hold Stakeholder Meetings to Discuss Statewide Mercury Emission Reductions

Stakeholders from around the State will be invited to attend meetings to discuss how to achieve the Mercury Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL. An excerpt from the International Falls Daily Journal follows;

The first of a series of meetings in which stakeholders will identify ways that mercury air emissions and releases to Minnesota lakes and streams could be reduced to acceptable levels is under way at the Minnesota History Center. Attendees are members of a 16-person strategy work group representing environmental, sports fishing and business interests; the electrical and taconite industries; and local, state and tribal governments.

The Mercury Total Maximum Daily Load stakeholder process will eventually produce recommendations for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to consider for an implementation plan. The plan will enable Minnesota to meet the goals of the MPCA?s Mercury TMDL study, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved in March.

"Reducing annual in-state mercury emissions by about 2,600 pounds from current levels is definitely a challenge," MPCA Assistant Commissioner David Thornton said.

Thornton said the stakeholder process will not consider changes to the goals set in the mercury TMDL study. "Our charge," he said, "is to determine how and by when the goals of the TMDL can be achieved."

It is a formidable challenge and Hg-ATME wishes them success. It looks as though the meetings may be open to the public but that participation may be limited to members of the working group that represents major blocks of constituents. But who knows, when a meeting on mercury emissions is touted as a stakeholder meeting, it is hard to conceive they would exclude public comment. They probably just want to get something accomplished rather than argue with John Q. :-) I would suggest John Q take his/her concerns to the members before the meetings next year.