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This document available in Portable Document Files ONLY!

             

The Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook was written to help The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources implement a new "Mercury Strategy." The Mercury Strategy is an initiative by the Bureau of Watershed Management, and is an innovative approach to reduce the amount of mercury released to the environment through the use of education, technical assistance, partnership development, and voluntary municipal efforts. It represents a new way of addressing toxics that is based on the development and implementation of comprehensive community mercury reduction plans that focus on the purposeful use of mercury.

This SourceBook is a compilation of the best mercury reduction work to date. It was designed as a working document to help guide communities through the process of writing comprehensive community mercury reduction plans. The SourceBook provides a seven step outline for drafting a reduction plan, and contains source identification materials for nineteen sectors of a community, including case studies, product alternatives, and action ideas for each sector. It is intended for use by anyone involved in drafting a reduction plan for mercury, including sewerage districts, community or trade associations, and government agencies.

Section One provides general background information on the element mercury, its cycling patterns, and the environmental and health effects of its bioaccumulative tendencies.  It provides useful information to anyone involved in promoting a mercury reduction plan or explaining why these reduction efforts are important.
PDF file size: 587KB 

Section Two provides detailed steps in helping communities draft a comprehensive community mercury reduction plan.  The lead for such an effort could be assumed by a sewerage district or an environmental or community group.  The steps are: 1 Identify Your Mission, 2 Select a Reduction Team and Form Partnerships, 3 Develop a Baseline and Set Goals, 4 Identify Sources of Mercury in Your Community, 5 Evaluate Tools and Options, 6 Set Goals and Implement, and 7 Measure and Promote Your Success.

The steps in section two are general and will be repeated as the plans branch out from the general community reduction team to specific sector and facility teams.  Please see the charts on "The Three Levels of a Mercury Reduction Program" for more information.
PDF file size: 366KB.

Section Three consists of sector specific information.  It is useful for those trying to identify sources of mercury in their community.

Mercury Use: Agriculture
PDF file size: 71KB
Mercury Use: Automotive Sector
PDF file size: 136KB 
Mercury Use: Business or Commercial Establishments
PDF file size: 111KB 
Mercury Use: Chemical Manufacturers/Users
PDF file size: 98KB
Mercury Use: Contractors & Construction
PDF file size: 132KB
 Mercury Use: Dairy Industry
 PDF file size: 328KB   
Mercury Use: Dentists
PDF file size: 216KB
Mercury Use: Educational Institutions
PDF file size: 157KB      
Mercury Use: Food Processors &
the Food Service Industry
PDF file size: 114KB
Mercury Use: Hospitals and Clinics
PDF file size: 243KB
Mercury Use: Households
PDF file size: 145KB 
Mercury Use: Industry
PDF file size: 200KB 
 Mercury Use: Metals Industry
 PDF file size: 162KB  
Mercury Use: Laboratories
PDF file size: 157KB   
Mercury Use: Military
PDF file size: 161KB     
Mercury Use: Nursing Homes
PDF file size: 134KB  
Mercury Use: Paper Mills
PDF file size: 162KB  
Mercury Use: Veterinary Clinics
PDF file size: 127KB
 Mercury Use: Wastewater
Treatment Plants
  PDF file size: 171KB   

DISCLAIMER
This document has been subject to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) peer and administrative review, and it has been approved for publication as a USEPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by USEPA or any of the contributing authors.

This document is a compilation of the best mercury pollution prevention work available to date. We are gratefully indebted to the numerous authors quoted within, whose innovative and groundbreaking research made this SourceBook possible.

The Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook is a working document, and we will continue to update it on a regular basis. Please help us improve this resource by sending your comments, questions, additions, or corrections to:

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Bureau of Watershed Management (WT/2)
P.O. Box 7921
Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7921
(608) 267-7694

You may also call the above number if you would like a copy of the SourceBook.

The Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook was prepared by:
Kimberly Huber - Author, Editor, and Graphic Design

Technical and editing assistance was provided by staff from
The Solid and Hazardous Education Center and The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Watershed Management, Bureau of Cooperative Environmental Assistance, and Bureau of Air Management.

The Wisconsin Mercury SourceBook was made possible through
EPA Pollution Prevention Incentives for States Grant #NP985072-01-1

May 1997

This Page created: December 09, 1998
Revised: April 22, 2002
Comments or Questions contact: Pranas Pranckevicius
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office
77 W. Jackson Boulevard (G-17J), Chicago, Illinois  60604