California EPA to Reduce Mercury

Sacramento, California—The California Environmental Protection Agency is diverting millions of mercury-containing fluorescent bulbs from landfills in collaboration with the U.S. EPA under the National Partnership for Environmental Priorities program.

Cal/EPA, the first state agency to join NPEP, will help lead the nation in continued efforts to remove mercury from the environment. The state aims to divert approximately 4.5 million compact fluorescent light bulbs from landfills in just one year. The popular energy-saving bulbs each contain a small amount of mercury.

“Reducing the impact of mercury on human health and the ecosystem is a priority for the EPA,” said Wayne Nastri, administrator for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “We are very pleased to have our state partner Cal/EPA join this program and set an innovative example for other states throughout the country.”

NPEP, a voluntary federal program, aims to reduce the use or release of four million pounds of toxic chemicals in the U.S. by 2011. Because mercury is so persistent in the environment, and so toxic at such minute quantities, the EPA launched the NPEP Mercury Challenge in 2004 to focus on the elimination of mercury.

For more information on the environmental impact of Mercury, visit Earth 911’s Mercury page.