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N.S. lags behind as other provinces meet mercury reduction deadlines
HALIFAX - Even before pushing back a key mercury emissions target, Nova Scotia was lagging behind other provinces on cutting its output of the toxic chemical, a recent report reveals.
The report from the Nova Scotia Environment Department shows the province, which accounts for eight per cent of Canada's mercury output, has not made significant reductions since agreeing to Canada-wide standards.
Last year, the province's four coal-fired power plants emitted 140 kilograms of mercury — more than double the original 2010 target that capped emissions at 65 kilograms — while achieving a marginal reduction from previous years.
In 2006, when the targets were set, Nova Scotia emitted 161 kilograms of the chemical.
Meanwhile, the other provinces that agreed to the standards are making progress on their goals.
Ontario surpassed its 2010 goal, which capped emissions at 360 kilograms, two years ago. Officials from Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick all confirmed that they are on track to meet their respective targets of 590, 430 and 25 kilograms this year.
Manitoba, the smallest emitter at just 20 kilograms annually, did not face any reductions under the agreement.
The reduction targets were set at a meeting of environment ministers in 2006, and were later enshrined in Nova Scotia's Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act.
The provincial government's recent decision to push back the 65-kilogram cap for 2010 by four years was made after Nova Scotia Power, which is responsible for the four mercury-emitting plants, said they would need to implement a power rate increase of 12 to 18 per cent to pay for low-mercury coal.
Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau said increased energy costs were one of the main reasons why reductions between 2006 and 2009 were so small.
Belliveau also said the government would "ultimately get to the same goal," and has set a 35-kilogram cap for 2020.
But Mark Butler, policy director for the Ecology Action Centre, calls that a questionable approach.
"You're asking the next government or ratepayers in 2016 or 2014 or 2018 to do what ratepayers perhaps aren't prepared to do now," he said.
He said the 2020 target "doesn't assuage our concern or really make it any better," while the province's approach also casts doubt on its commitment to other goals in the act.
Fe de Leon, a researcher with the Canadian Environmental Law Association, called the government's decision to delay the targets "very troubling."
"Certainly a more stringent mechanism or requirement by the government to push those reductions faster is much better than delaying any action," she said.
At the environment ministers' meeting in 2006, it was agreed that the six provinces who emit mercury from coal-burning power plants would reduce their combined output by 60 per cent by 2010.
These reduction targets were set because of mercury's negative health effects.
Exposure to mercury, even low levels of it, can cause neurological and developmental damage, with children and pregnant women especially at risk. Humans are primarily exposed to mercury by eating contaminated fish.
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Seven weekly sessions of teaching and sharing on the gifts of the holy spirit, an invitation to youth and adults of all faiths, at Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic church, 1001 Grant Avenue, call Marianne ...
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