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Mercury Task Force in Region 2
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National Information |
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Information for...
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Both New Jersey and New York have established mercury task forces to enforce environmental protection on mercury issues.
New Jersey - Mercury Pollution Task Force
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is investigating ways to reduce mercury levels through several programs. Under an agreement with the EPA to protect human health and the environment from adverse effects of mercury, the DEP intends to find ways to:
- reduce mercury levels in the air from stationary sources
- reduce human exposure to mercury from contaminated ground water
- explore sources of mercury in soil, surface waters and sediments
- assess mercury levels in freshwater and marine fish
- reduce exposure to mercury from eating fish from New Jersey surface waters
- use emerging scientific data to update health risks from mercury and to update fish consumption advisories
- increase awareness and understanding of fish consumption advisories
During her governorship in New Jersey, former EPA Administrator, Christie
Whitman requested DEP Commissioner Robert Shinn to create a Mercury
Pollution Task Force. 
The task force, which began meeting in 1998, is developing recommendations
to further reduce mercury pollution. The 20-member task force is chaired
by Michael Gochfield, MD, Ph.D, of the Environmental and Occupational
Health Sciences Institute at the University of Medicine and Dentistry-NJ.
New York - Mercury Management Program
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has developed
a mercury
mangement program
where several DEC program areas share responsibility for environmental
protection on mercury issues:
- regulating air emissions
- educating the public on products that contain mercury
- remediating and preventing hazardous spills
- assisting businesses in finding mercury-free alternatives to needed equipment
- monitoring water and habitat to keep toxic levels safe for fish, wildlife and humans.
In 1996, the NYSDEC established a Mercury Task Force. The Task Force meets regularly to discuss mercury issues related to the NYSDEC program areas shown in the list above. In addition to information sharing, the Task Force provides coordinated DEC responses on interagency, interstate, regional, national and international programs and initiatives related to mercury studies and control measures.
Mercury Manometer
Replacement and Outreach Project for Plumbers
New York/New Jersey Harbor (The Harbor Project)
The New York Academy of Sciences
is undertaking a multi-year study to identify and quantify the flows of
specific contaminants (including mercury) into the NY/NJ Harbor from its
air and watershed. One of its accomplishment was the formation of the
Harbor Consortium, which is "a group of very dedicated and committed
stakeholders from all sectors who have an interest in finding solutions
to ongoing pollution and who have a strong interest in the scientific
research that underpins the pollution prevention recommendations."
They have been very active in reporting the levels of mercury in the Harbor.
| You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, available as a free download, to view some of the files listed below. See EPA's PDF page to learn more about PDF, and for a link to the free Acrobat Reader. |
- Mercury
in Canned Tuna: White versus Light and Temporal Variation (Summary
of the report)
- Mercury
Sources and Sinks in the New York/New Jersey Harbor
- Mercury
Emissions from High-temperature Sources in the NY/NJ Hudson-Raritan
Basin, N. J. [PDF, 211.5 KB, 12 pages]
- New York-New
Jersey Harbor Project Survey [PDF, 288
KB, 76 pages] - Study conducted by the Marist College Institute
for Public Opinion for the New York Academy of Sciences (December, 2001)
