Standing in the rain in front of Buffalo City Hall Wednesday morning, representatives of the New York Public Interest Research Group released a new report that takes Honeywell Corporation to task for its role in lobbying against legislation that would provide for capturing discarded mercury-containing thermostats in New York.
NYPIRG's Joseph Stelling told WBFO's Jim Pastrick that emissions data from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation point to an incinerator in Western New York as one that emits large quantities mercury into the air.
An incinerator in Niagara Falls "is the largest waste-to-energy emitter of mercury in the state," Stelling said. "The Huntley Power plant in (Tonawanda) is a large emitter of mercury. It puts out 26 pounds of mercury each year. The (Falls incinerator) puts out 34 pounds, 30 percent more than a coal-fired power plant. That's scary."
An estimated 310,000 mercury thermostats are taken out of service each year in New York. But there is no effective collection program in place for older thermostats and it's estimated that 99% end up in the garbage, ultimately finding their way to land fills or incinerators.