SAN FRANCISCO
70-year mercury cleanup plan OK'd for S.F. Bay

By Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer
Thursday, July 19, 2007

Getting rid of enough mercury to make San Francisco Bay's fish safe to eat may take 70 years, under a plan adopted this week by state officials.

The cleanup plan focuses on some sources of the toxin -- old mines, businesses, sewage treatment plants and city streets -- and sets limits on how much mercury should be allowed to flow into the bay. The limits are based on how much the metal builds up in fish.

Residents who rely on contaminated bay fish for a part of their regular diet can suffer neurological damage, tremors, anxiety and memory problems. The danger of mercury poisoning is particularly high for fetuses and young children.

The plan, a decade in the making and closely scrutinized by environmental groups, was passed Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board and needs approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has declared its support of the plan.

The cleanup timetable is so long -- 70 years -- because there is so much mercury-laden sediment in the bay, said Bruce Wolfe, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, which signed off on the plan last year.

"Obviously, we can't go through and dredge the whole bay," Wolfe said. "The goal is to protect human health and at the same time protect wildlife."

The mercury in the water works its way up to the fish, and then to the birds where it can affect their reproduction, he said.

"We're going straight to the fish -- the receptor -- and setting the limit in fish tissue," Wolfe said.

There are hundreds of sources of mercury. About 1,200 kilograms per year -- or about 2,645 pounds -- reach the bay. Under the cleanup plan, the pollution needs to be whacked to about 700 kilograms per year, or about 1,540 pounds.

The toughest job is the cleanup of the two now-closed mercury mines: the New Almaden Mine in a Santa Clara County park, once one of the world's largest; and the Idira Mine in San Benito County.

The city of San Jose, Santa Clara County, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and Waste Management Inc., among others, will be required to pay to cut mercury in the Guadalupe Creek watershed by 90 percent, according to the plan. The cost of putting up barriers, hauling out highly contaminated soil and other measures is expected to reach millions of dollars.

Most of the gold mines in the Sierra that leach mercury to the bay lie in the jurisdiction of the Central Valley water board, which will work with the bay region on ways to cut the pollution.

The plan also requires major reductions from some 50 municipal sewage treatment plants, 76 cities that allow storm water to drain to the bay, and 15 businesses -- including five refineries -- that run their own industrial wastewater plants.

Testing by the California Department of Health Services has found high levels of mercury in some bay species of fish, triggering concerns for fishermen who use rod and reels from piers and boats. Save the Bay and other environmental groups were successful in getting the state to erect warning signs in several languages at popular fishing spots.

According to 2000 data from the San Francisco Estuary Institute, some fish species may contain unsafe levels of mercury: leopard shark, California halibut, white croakers, white sturgeon and striped bass -- one of the most popular fish caught in the bay. Jacksmelt and shiner surfperch have lower levels of mercury.

The mercury reductions under the plan will lead to clean fish, said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which encompasses commercial fisheries.

"This is obviously good for the bay. But the big victory is for the people who rely on the bay for subsistence and it's a big part of their diet," Grader said.

At the state board meeting Tuesday, environmentalists and representatives of the municipal sewage treatment plants ended their long battle over the mercury limits. The plants share a group permit to discharge into the bay, but the water regulators added rules that say each plant will have its own limits on mercury discharges.

Michele Pla, executive director of the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, which represents municipal treatment plants, said, "We're fine with everything, the way it turned out."

David Beckman, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Los Angeles, said public pressure helped get the tough cleanup plan.

"If left to its own devices, it would have adopted a remediation plan that would have guaranteed high levels of mercury for generations to come," he said.

Before the environmental groups like the defense council and BayKeeper got involved, the regional board was demanding cleanup in more than 100 years, Beckman said. Now it's down to 70.

Sejal Choksi, a spokeswoman for BayKeeper, said there are still tough fights ahead. For example, the refineries have challenged the regional board's request for more detailed information about their operations, she said.

The regulators want to know the amount of mercury in the crude oil coming into the plants and amounts going out in air emissions, wastewater discharges and solid waste as well as in the inventory and byproducts. At a hearing July 31, refinery representatives will appear to address the requests.

Read documents related to the cleanup plan: links.sfgate.com/ZLM

For health warnings related to San Francisco Bay fish: links.sfgate.com/ZLN

E-mail Jane Kay at jkay@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/19/BAGVGR310S1.DTL

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle