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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Report warns of mercury-handling deficiencies

By: Dean Beeby

Posted: 01/21/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

OTTAWA, Ont. -- Canada's mercury-waste facilities are either patchwork or non-existent as millions of light bulbs containing the highly toxic chemical are set to flood the marketplace.

That's a key finding of a report commissioned by Environment Canada in the run-up to a major change in the way Canadians light their homes.

Beginning next January, a new regulation will effectively ban the sale of standard incandescent bulbs in favour of energy-efficient versions, most of which contain mercury.

So-called compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, will also enter the waste stream as they break or burn out, many destined for landfills where their harmful mercury can get into the water.

Environment Canada says the mercury contained in a typical thermometer can contaminate five Olympic-size swimming pools to toxic levels.

Ironically, the ban on incandescents is partly designed to reduce mercury in the environment because old-style light bulbs are inefficient, and require more electricity from burning coal and other fossil fuels that can emit mercury.

Environmentalists applaud the ban for eliminating far more fossil-fuel mercury than the new bulbs add -- but say Environment Canada must also require the recycling or safe storage of broken CFLs.

"Currently, municipalities do not store mercury -- most of it ends up in landfill," says a report commissioned from Summerhill Impact, an environmental firm in Toronto.

The Aug. 31 study also found no national or industry-wide standards for the handling of mercury waste.

There was "significant variability between regulations across the provinces, and... nearly all (mercury-handling) facilities... rely on these regulations as their main environmental-management guidelines, rather than industry standards."

The study, which surveyed some 28 of the 123 places that store or manage mercury waste, also found Canada lacks any facility to extract pure mercury from waste, relying instead on mercury distillers in the United States.

The authors warn that with growing restrictions on trans-border movements of mercury, such as a U.S. ban on pure mercury exports effective Jan. 1 this year, Canada may need to resolve pending storage issues.

"The sector is notably lacking distillation facilities that make mercury re-use possible," says the report, which cost the department $47,000.

"This suggests that Canada may need to lay the groundwork for investigating best practices for longer-term storage options for elemental mercury, as export bans in other jurisdictions such as the USA could negatively impact their demand for mercury waste from Canadian sources."

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 21, 2013 B6

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