A chlorine manufacturing plant is discharging mercury at the highest rate of any industrial plant in the nation. A state agency is trying to get the plant to reduce the pollution. The GLRC’s Fred Kight has the story:
Transcript
A chlorine manufacturing plant is discharging mercury at the highest rate of any
industrial plant in the nation. A state agency is trying to get the plant to reduce the
pollution. The GLRC’s Fred Kight has the story:
The PPG Industries plant has dumped as much as 32 pounds of mercury a year into the
Ohio River. Mercury is a toxic chemical that causes nerve damage in humans. West
Virginia’s Environmental Quality Board found that state regulators had allowed PPG to
dump mercury in amounts many times the legal limit.
Margaret Janes is with the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.
She praised the decision against the plant:
“They’re using a technology that is from the 1800s. There are other cleaner technologies available.”
The plant reportedly is one of only nine in the country that makes chlorine by pumping
saltwater through vats of pure mercury. PPG Industries says it will appeal the West
Virginia ruling.
For the GLRC, I’m Fred Kight.