As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
In a 35 to 13 vote last
night, the Senate passed legislation that will require auto makers to pay to
remove mercury components from scrap vehicles. According to the EPA, mercury
emissions from the melting of scrap cars is currently the largest source of
unregulated mercury emissions in the United States. The measure will reduce
those emissions by 90 percent , by requiring the automakers who installed the
mercury components to fund a program for their removal.
“The high cost of mercury
disposal shouldn’t be born by taxpayers, steel recyclers, or other industry,”
explained Mo McBroom, staff attorney for the Washington Public Interest Research
Group. “This bill encourages better designed products by ensuring that
those car companies who chose to use the toxic components are also responsible
for their safe disposal.”
Mercury switches conduct
electricity for automatic car trunk or hood lights. As long as the mercury remains
in the switch there is not a problem. But, when the car reaches the end of its
useful life and the steel is melted for recycling, mercury can be released into
the environment. Mercury is a persistent neurotoxin that builds up in the food
chain and is harmful at very low levels.
Despite long standing opposition
and the widespread availability of cost-effective alternatives, some auto makers
continued to use mercury switches. Although existing state law now prohibits
these components, a large portion of cars currently on the road contain mercury.
If legislation is not enacted to address the problem, hundreds of pounds of
mercury from scrap cars will continue to be released into the environment each
year.
"A modest investment
up front can prevent the high cost to human health when mercury is released
into the environment," explained Alexandra Thompson of King County's Solid
Waste Division, one of the bill’s backers.
The bill being debated in
Olympia requires vehicle manufacturers to establish and fund a system for the
removal and safe management of at least 90 percent of the mercury switches in
scrap vehicles. The legislation was developed by a coalition of auto recyclers,
steel shredders, steel mills, local governments, and environmental organizations
including the Automotive Recyclers of Washington, WashPIRG, Nucor Steel, Schnitzer
Steel, Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries, Washington Citizens for Resource
Conservation, and the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County,
WA.
The proposal follows a nationwide
trend toward product stewardship where natural resources are protected by requiring
the manufacturer of a product to invest up front in its proper disposal at the
end of its useful life.
