Sorbent Trap Mercury Monitoring…What does the Future Bring?

On May 20th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected EPA and utility industry requests to rehear and overturn the ruling that vacated the agency’s Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR). Barring an unlikely appeal of this case to the U.S. Supreme Court, it appears certain that the federal CAMR and its associated mercury monitoring requirements are, for the moment anyway, dead before arrival. (read more about this ruling)

So, what does this mean for the future of sorbent trap monitoring systems like the MET-80? It’s probably too early to tell what the long-term prognosis is, but some of the early indications thus far may indicate that sorbent trap sampling is more alive and well than ever. Thanks to the inherent functionality, adaptability and robustness of the sorbent trap approach, it is now being seen by some pragmatists as the most logical and effective means of gathering mercury emissions data. What’s more, sorbent trap systems like the MET-80 are out there collecting good and reliable data NOW, something very few (if any, really) Hg CEMS owners can claim.

The fact is, mercury measurements are perhaps needed now more than ever. With the vacatur of CAMR, the winds are shifting towards the EPA developing a MACT standard for EGUs based on Section 112 of the CAA. It is highly likely that any mercury MACT standard will include continuous monitoring requirements for mercury (and perhaps any one of the other HAPS). The importance of this data with respect to the total potential cost to the utility would only increase. So, although the deadline for monitoring may get pushed back a little, the need still looms.

Then there are the states that developed their own mercury rules. Massachusetts has required monitoring since the beginning of this year, and Dominion’s three MET-80s at Salem Harbor are the first sorbent trap systems in the country that are pumping out certified data for a utility. Michigan and Wisconsin are two more states that have their own mercury monitoring requirements in the pipeline. Although the dates for these are a little further out there, two of our MET-80 clients, Detroit Edison and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, are pushing forward now with the installation of their systems.

Today, there are MET-80 systems collecting data in five states – Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio. Although the end use of some of this data may now change with the departure of CAMR, the interest in the data has intensified. This has been even further magnified by the fact that the mercury CEMS are still being plagued by operational problems, and the ones to which our MET-80 systems were planned as back-ups have yet to collect any useful data. As they say, timing is everything.