Mercury will be the topic of a special session today in Boise, with two agencies making presentations to state lawmakers.
Officials with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health & Welfare will speak to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
The hearing was scheduled in response to the announcement last April that San Diego-based Sempra Generation hopes to build a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Jerome County.
Such plants are one of many sources of mercury pollution, according to the DEQ.
Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, whose district includes Blaine County, is trying to pass four power plant-related bills this legislative session.
One, labeled S1293, would provide for a mercury emissions control plan, mandating a near-zero cap of such emissions.
It is assigned to the Senate Health & Welfare Committee and Stennett is optimistic it will get a hearing after today's presentations.
"I hope it will get a hearing because the committee will be up to date on what the issues are," he said Tuesday, Feb. 14.
According to the Idaho DEQ Web site, all forms of mercury are poisonous to humans, with infants and pregnant women especially susceptible to the effects of methylmercury, an organic mercury compound.
Sources of mercury pollution in Idaho include a mixture of in-state and out-of-state human-caused and natural processes such as mining operations, petroleum combustion, coal-powered plants, various manufacturing sources, sewage treatment plants and landfills, according to the Idaho DEQ.
Sempra officials say the proposed power plant will meet federal air quality standards, and multi-emissions controls will reduce mercury emissions about 70 percent.
The Senate approved another of Stennett's bills, the "Good Neighbor Bill," S1276, which has been assigned to the House Local Government Committee.
S1292, which would create a state siting committee, has yet to get a hearing with the Senate State Affairs Committee; nor has S1274, which would impose a 15-month moratorium on thermal power plants.
"Before I push too hard on the mercury bill, I'm going to have to raise a ruckus to get a hearing on the moratorium," Stennett said Tuesday. "I'm fully engaged. It's my number-one priority."
The mercury presentation is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. today, Feb. 15. The public is invited but no comments will be taken.
