Don't bury mercury in KC's back yard

After all, a lot of those tons of mercury is generated by recycling, which we all know will save the planet. How can KC refuse to do its part in protecting Earth?

This is the moral thing to do. Besides, this nasty 'not in my backyard' syndrome Lewis is espousing is politically incorrect. We ALL must share the pain, as Obamasiah has mandated, and we are all in this together, so why shouldn't we take the mercury?

Besides, think of all the businesses we could attract here to use the mercury! Talk about getting us out of recession!

In conclusion, I have proved my case beyond a doubt - accepting the mercury output from American recycling helps all of our comrades, pleases Obamasiah and strengthens our local cooperative, er, city. .

Not only does the point still stand even if % is slightly different but there are 7 more points. Care to "debunk" them all?

your post is suspect already:

well, but:

California has long purchased power from out-of-state coal-fired power plants located in the heart of the American West that emit much greater levels of pollution than would be allowed in the Golden State.

* * *

each year California's existing out-of-state coal plants release a staggering 67 million tons of global-warming carbon dioxide, as much as 11 million cars. They also discharge ten times more smog-forming pollution and 200 times more mercury than all of the power plants in California. Meanwhile more than 14,000 megawatts of new coal-fired power plants are under various stages of development in the Interior West, many with a sharp eye on the California market and no measures for addressing their vast quantities of global warming pollution.

http://www.westernresourceadvocates.org/energy/califcoal.php

CA is working to phase out this dependency on out-of-state coal-fired power plants, but the situation isn't drastically changing soon:

"The DWP buys 47% of its power from two massive coal-fired plants in Utah and Arizona that are major sources of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Those contracts expire in 2017 and 2027."

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/24/local/me-coal24

I hear the guys who are going to deposit the Merc here smoke cigarettes too!

Here’s a short critique of the bogus argument that there will be a reduction in toxic mercury into the environment with CFL’s due to the energy reduction from coal plants.

(1) The old Government and other figures most often cited are incorrect for several reasons. The basic one is that they assume 100% of electricity in the US is from coal plants. Not true. 50% of electricity does not come from coal plants in the US and coal plants are now being mandated to reduce their mercury emissions by between 70% and 90% over the next several years. The most recent calculations from the DOE indicate that, on the average, CFL’s are worse than incandescent bulbs in terms of mercury.

(2) Places like California produce little energy from coal plants, and several states produce none. So any CFL energy reductions will not cut much, if any, mercury there.

(3) The 5mg of mercury generally claimed for CFL’s is largely a goal and not the current reality which is 200% to 600% higher for some major manufacturers according to suppliers of CFL’s to the State of New Jersey.

(4) CFL’s are made in China with energy from mostly very dirty coal plants that emit much more mercury than US coal plants. And since China gets about 80% from coal and the US only about 50%, the comparison is even worse. It likely takes the equivalent of about 25% of the CFL’s energy savings to produce them there, plus the extra energy for the packaging and shipping compared to incandescent bulbs which are almost all made here. That represents a lot more mercury per CFL. Oh, since fuel and power in China emit twice as much CO2 as in the US, on average, there may go up to half the CO2 savings. And since places like California are twice as clean in terms of CO2 as the rest of the US, there may be no CO2 savings realized from CFL’s in some states. The same holds for SO2 and the Nitrogen Oxides.

(5) As much mercury is spilled into the environment in the production of CFL’s in China as goes into the CFL’s according to recent statements from industry representatives.

(6) CFL’s are delivered here on ships using bunker oil, the worst mercury and CO2 producer of the fuel oils. Again, incandescent bulbs are still almost all made in the US.

(7) There is no recycling program in place or planned that could handle the number of CFL’s proposed. Only 2% of CFL’s are recycled. And after many years, even the industrial recycling programs only handle about 25% of the mercury from fluorescent lights.

(8) It is likely that if any major recycling program is set up, the CFL’s will be shipped back to China for reprocessing.

Thus, when an objective and realistic lifecycle analysis is made, it is clear that a massive CFL program will put a great deal of additional toxic mercury into the environment and very likely into our kid’s bodies. And the EPA says that a sixth of them already have too much mercury in them.

Proper use and recycling of CFLs may actually result in less mercury entering the environment, because coal-fired power plants emit four times more mercury to power an incandescent bulb than to power a CFL, since the CFL uses 75% less energy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17831334/

http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2007/12/28/mercury-falling-with-the-rise-of-cfl-bulbs/

CFLs are not "filled" with mercury they do contain small amounts. And currently they do not recommend a hazmat team to clean up a broken CFL but they have in the past. Probably an overreaction. In many places they do not allow you to throw CFLs in the trash but require you to take them to a hazardous recycling center. The rest of the post does bring up some interesting questions.

If you want to know the current recommendation of cleaning up a CFL you can read about it here:

http://www.spicybugz.com/2009/03/05/how-to-clean-up-a-broken-cfl/

Before cleanup: Vent the room
1. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
2. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Cleanup steps for hard surfaces
3. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
5. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
6. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Cleanup steps for carpeting or rug
3. Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
5. If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
6. Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

Disposal of cleanup materials
7. Immediately place all cleanup materials outside the building in a trash container or outdoor protected area for the next normal trash.
8. Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing cleanup materials.
9. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken lamps be taken to a recycling center.

Future cleaning of carpeting or rug
10. For at least the next few times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
11. Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm#fluorescent

You're spreading misinformation, Chalveyob:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

I would like to point out that mercury is very bad, and that our green friends are producing tons of it. Thiose wonderful new lightbulbs they love so much are filled with it, you need a hazmat team to clean up if you break one. The bateries that run the electric cars they want everyone to drive also produce mercury. To summarize, Co2 a natural gas which is required for all plant life to live is a deadly toxin, but lightbukbs and batteries that contain mercury are totally fine. I guess it just depends on your agenda?