FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 6, 2003
CONTACT: Deena Wells, (850) 245-2112
Florida Everglades Study Reveals Decline
In Mercury Levels
--Cost-effective, long-term solutions protect
public health and wildlife--
AMERICA'S EVERGLADES - Over a single generation,
mercury concentrations found in fish and wading birds in
America's Everglades have dropped by 60 to 70 percent. The
drastic reductions are directly linked to the installation of
technology that reduced mercury in emissions from industries in
South Florida by a 100-fold during the last two decades.
"Pollution controls introduced two decades ago to limit
mercury emissions are delivering dramatic results in our
lifetime -- similar to the environmental gains made with the
elimination of lead in gasoline," said Florida Department
of 
Environmental Protection Secretary David B. Struhs.
"Florida is again leading the charge to find
cost-effective, long-term solutions that reduce pollution and
restore the environment."
A multi-agency study launched in 1994 compared mercury levels
in the Everglades before and after pollution controls were
installed at municipal and medical waste combustors in South
Florida. Since the 1980s, mercury emissions from waste
incinerators close to the Everglades have dropped nearly 99
percent. Over the last ten years, scientists documented a 70
percent decline in mercury in bird feathers and a 60 percent
decrease in fish tissue.
"Mercury levels in the natural environment are a
worldwide concern but local investments can yield local
results," said Secretary Struhs. "This is sound
scientific evidence that advances in cleanup technologies can
significantly reduce pollutants, improve water quality and
recover wildlife."
Significant reductions in concentrations led the Department
of Health to downgrade fish consumption advisories in central
and northern areas of the Everglades this year. Although mercury
will never be completely removed from the environment,
scientists expect continued reductions in fish and wildlife over
the next two decades - achieving a 50 percent reduction within
10 years and 90 percent reduction within 30 years.
Monitoring, modeling and research by the South Florida
Mercury Science Program demonstrates the relationship between
mercury detected in the air, deposition in waterways and
sediments through rainfall and concentrations found in fish and
wildlife in the Everglades. While natural systems respond
differently to the installation of pollution controls, research
indicates the potential for successfully reducing mercury in the
environment throughout the nation.
The South Florida Mercury Science Program is a collaboration
of experts from the Department of Environmental Protection, U.
S. Environmental Protection Agency, South Florida Water
Management District, U.S. Department of Interior and other
public and private organizations.
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