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NACWA Priority Issues - Mercury |
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Many wastewater treatment facilities are, or soon will be, faced with very low mercury effluent limits due to the application of stringent water quality criteria. New analytical methods and sampling techniques are enabling clean water facilities to measure levels of mercury that were previously undetectable. Because of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new human health criterion for methylmercury in fish tissue and the increasing number of fish advisories based on mercury, there are few parts of the country that will remain unaffected. Wastewater treatment agencies are concerned that compliance will require the application of costly advanced treatment that may not improve water quality.
- While NACWA believes each community must make the decisions that are right for its citizens, the Association favors a national, holistic strategy that fairly and equitably takes into account the various sources of mercury – air, industrial, national and international.
- The relative contribution of wastewater treatment plants and the existing and developing control strategies they are employing should be taken into consideration as total maximum daily loads and permit restrictions on the discharge of mercury are developed.
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Clean Water Advocacy