Managing Mercury Issues on a Continental Scale

Luke Trip*, Manager, Heavy Metal Air Issues, Environment Canada, 351 St Joseph Blvd., Hull, Quebec, Canada, K1A0H3

Dr. R. J. Allan, Director, Aquatic Ecosystem Research Branch, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, L7R 4A6

Dr. Andrew Hamilton, Chief, Science Division, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 393 St. Jacques West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2Y 1N9

In North America, the leaders of Canada, the USA and Mexico recognized the importance of linking environment to trade issues and authorized the development of a parallel environmental side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement, (NAFTA). This environmental side agreement, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, (NAAEC), established the Commission for Environmental Cooperation to " facilitate cooperation on the conservation, protection and enhancement of the environment in their territories". Under this initiative, the respective Ministers for Environment of the three countries developed a resolution to develop North American Regional Action Plans for selected persistent and toxic substances as a first priority to address concerns associated with the sound management of chemicals. Mercury was one of the first four priority substances selected in 1996.

Mercury issues in North America have evolved from local acute environmental toxicity concerns due to significant discharges from pint sources such as mercury cell chlor-alkali plants to present day concerns over long range atmospheric transport of mercury emissions from various human activities. Such emissions emanate from sources as diverse as the combustion of coal for electricity to the use of mercury in cultural icons.

A Phase I Action Plan on Mercury was accepted by Ministers in November 1997, with the express instruction to "forward ... a proposed amendment ^Å that shall contain additional specific actions that the Parties shall undertake to further reduce anthropogenic releases of mercury ^Å together with specific targets and time frames for meeting these actions". This paper will present a summary of the action plan anticipated to be formally signed by Ministers in June, 2000, with particular emphasis on its applicability as a reference tool for other nations and regions to consider as a template for global anthropogenic mercury emissions reductions.