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Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook

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DISCLAIMER
This document has been subject to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) peer and administrative review, and it has been approved for publication as a USEPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by USEPA or any of the contributing authors.

A Guide to Help Your Community Identify and Reduce Releases of Elemental Mercury


The Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook was written to help The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources implement a new "Mercury Strategy." The Mercury Strategy is an initiative by the Bureau of Watershed Management, and is an innovative approach to reduce the amount of mercury released to the environment through the use of education, technical assistance, partnership development, and voluntary municipal efforts. It represents a new way of addressing toxics that is based on the development and implementation of comprehensive community mercury reduction plans that focus on the purposeful use of mercury.

This SourceBook is a compilation of the best mercury reduction work to date. It was designed as a working document to help guide communities through the process of writing comprehensive community mercury reduction plans. The SourceBook provides a seven step outline for drafting a reduction plan, and contains source identification materials for nineteen sectors of a community, including case studies, product alternatives, and action ideas for each sector. It is intended for use by anyone involved in drafting a reduction plan for mercury, including sewerage districts, community or trade associations, and government agencies.
[PDF file size: 587KB]

Section One provides general background information on the element mercury, its cycling patterns, and the environmental and health effects of its bioaccumulative tendencies.  It provides useful information to anyone involved in promoting a mercury reduction plan or explaining why these reduction efforts are important.

Section Two provides detailed steps in helping communities draft a comprehensive community mercury reduction plan.  The lead for such an effort could be assumed by a sewerage district or an environmental or community group.  The steps are:

  1. Identify Your Mission,
  2. Select a Reduction Team and Form Partnerships,
  3. Develop a Baseline and Set Goals,
  4. Identify Sources of Mercury in Your Community,
  5. Evaluate Tools and Options,
  6. Set Goals and Implement, and
  7. Measure and Promote Your Success.

The steps in section two are general and will be repeated as the plans branch out from the general community reduction team to specific sector and facility teams.  Please see the charts on "The Three Levels of a Mercury Reduction Program" for more information.
[PDF file size: 366KB]

Section Three consists of sector specific information.  It is useful for those trying to identify sources of mercury in their community.

This document is a compilation of the best mercury pollution prevention work available to date. We are gratefully indebted to the numerous authors quoted within, whose innovative and groundbreaking research made this SourceBook possible.

The Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook is a working document, and we will continue to update it on a regular basis. Please help us improve this resource by sending your comments, questions, additions, or corrections to:

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Bureau of Watershed Management (WT/2)
P.O. Box 7921
Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7921
Tel: (608) 267-7694

You may also call the above number if you would like a copy of the SourceBook.

The Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook was prepared by:
Kimberly Huber - Author, Editor, and Graphic Design

Technical and editing assistance was provided by staff from
The Solid and Hazardous Education Center and The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Watershed Management, Bureau of Cooperative Environmental Assistance, and Bureau of Air Management.

The Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook was made possible through EPA Pollution Prevention Incentives for States Grant #NP985072-01-1

May 1997

 

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