FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2006

Contact:
Elizabeth Saunders, Clean Water Action, 617-338-8131 x203, 617-869-3937 (c)
Megan Amundson, Environmental League of Massachusetts, 617-742-2553
John Thomas, The Arc of Massachusetts, 781-891-6270 x104, 508-207-2858 (c)

BOSTON--Today at 2:20, the Massachusetts Senate voted unanimously to pass legislation to stop mercury pollution from products such as thermostats, automobiles, fluorescent lights, and electrical switches. S-2464, An Act Relative to Mercury Management, sponsored by Representative Douglas Petersen (D-Marblehead) and Senator Susan Tucker (D-Andover), will phase out the use of certain mercury-containing products that have safer alternatives and will require manufacturers to set up collection programs to keep discarded products out of the waste stream. The bill goes farther than other states by requiring collection systems for fluorescent lamps, which were excluded in other states.

The effort to pass the bill in the Senate was led on Beacon Hill by Tucker and Senator Pamela Resor (D-Acton), Chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. It was passed unanimously in the House on February 2nd (as H-4670). There are some minor differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill that will be reconciled before the bill is sent to Governor Mitt Romney to sign.

“I am very pleased that the vote in the Senate was unanimous,” said Tucker. “The vote illustrates that the Senate understands the importance of getting mercury out of the waste stream and out of the streams, lakes and ponds of Massachusetts.”

“This bill is a significant environmental victory for Massachusetts,” said Resor. Not only will these new standards have an enormous impact on the well being of our environment and the health of our residents; they comprehensively address this problem and act in accordance with our sister New England states so that we can regionally address mercury management.”

Passage of the Mercury Products Bill has been a top priority of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, a coalition of parents, teachers, doctors, scientists, workers, environmentalists, and faith leaders working to implement laws and policies to prevent harm to health from toxic chemicals. It is expected to dramatically reduce emissions of mercury from municipal waste incinerators, one of the largest airborne sources of mercury pollution in the Bay State.

“This is a great victory for the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow and for mothers and children everywhere,” said Gwendolyn Atwood, Lincoln resident and mother of 3. “As a mother, I will rest a little easier knowing that the legislature has taken a major step in reducing a powerful neurotoxin in our environment.”

“With this law in place, Massachusetts will be a national leader in preventing mercury pollution,” said Elizabeth Saunders of Clean Water Action, a coordinator of the Alliance’s campaign to pass the bill. “We commend the Massachusetts legislature for unanimously taking a strong stand to protect children’s and adult health, and hope that Governor Romney will do the same.”

“Passage of the Mercury Products bill marks a significant milestone in Massachusetts. Not only are we catching up to what so many other states are already doing to take mercury out of our environment, but we are finally seeing environmental legislation move through the Massachusetts legislature,” said Megan Amundson, Legislative Director of the Environmental League of Massachusetts and Alliance board member. “During the last few years there has been a conspicuous lack of environmental legislation passed in Massachusetts and this is a positive step that our health and our environment are being seriously looked at by policymakers.”

“Mercury exposure can have devastating health effects for children and families, so we are thrilled to see Massachusetts taking a stand against this dangerous toxic chemical,” said John Thomas from The Arc of Massachusetts, which advocates for people with intellectual disabilities, and Alliance board member. “We urge Governor Romney to support this legislation which has been thoughtfully crafted by the House and Senate.”

“I am pleased that my colleagues in the Senate have engrossed the mercury bill”, said Frank Smizik (D-Brookline), House Chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. “This legislation goes a long way toward ultimately removing mercury from our waste stream, thereby protecting the citizens of Massachusetts from this harmful toxin. Some sections have been changed from the house version and with my staff and other House members I will look at the impacts of these changes. However, I am confident that any differences will be worked out in conference committee.”

The Mercury Products Bill was first filed in 2001. Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont and other states around the country have all passed similar legislation. All products that would be removed from sale by the legislation have mercury-free alternatives already on the market.

Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin that has been linked to learning disabilities and developmental delays in children, as well as damage to the heart, nervous system and kidneys in adults. Mercury enters the environment via waste incinerators, pollution from power plants, chlorine production facilities and other sources. In Massachusetts a large source of air emissions is the states’ 5 largest incinerators, which together emit 587 pounds of mercury a year according to DEP data. Forty-five states have issued advisories warning sensitive populations about the dangers of eating mercury-contaminated fish, and in 2004, the FDA and the EPA advised women of childbearing age and young children to avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish, and to limit consumption of canned albacore tuna and fresh tuna to 6 oz. per week.