While the Department of Energy’s latest environmental review of the problem picked no preferred site for long-term storage of elemental mercury, the feds favor placing the metal in an existing facility that could accept the material quickly.
“Because statutory milestone dates have now passed, DOE needs to designate a facility and begin accepting elemental mercury as soon as practicable,” David Haught, mercury program lead for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, said during an online public hearing Tuesday.
The Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 required DOE to get a facility for long-term storage of domestic mercury operating by Jan. 1, 2019, and the agency has been working toward that goal for more than a decade, Haught said during Tuesday’s session, the first of two public hearings scheduled for this week. The second was set for 1 p.m. E.T. Thursday.
DOE is looking for one or more sites to store up to 7,000 metric tons of mercury for as long as 40 years.
In 2019, DOE designated Waste Control Specialists (WCS) of Andrews County, Texas, as the long-term storage facility. Gold mining companies sued over the DOE site selection process and over the way the agency set the storage fee assigned to gold mines and other mercury generators. Following a settlement of the litigation, DOE withdraw its selection of WCS in October 2020.
This time around, WCS is again in the running, and DOE is involving the public with site selection and fee determination, Haught said.
There are six potential providers, including WCS, analyzed in the latest draft supplemental environmental impact statement published June 30.
One, Clean Harbors, offers three potential sites in Utah, Tennessee and Illinois, according to DOE. The other listed providers are: Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada; Bethlehem Apparatus in Pennsylvania; Perma-Fix in Tennessee; and a Veolia site in Arkansas.
Due to various bureaucratic hurdles, including approval from the Department of Defense and consultation with the Nevada historic preservation officer, it could take about three years before Hawthorne is ready, Haught said.
Public comment remains open until Aug. 22 although it is possible the deadline could be extended, Haught said.
Note: Article modified Aug. 3 to correct the time for the second hearing.
