November 9, 2004

Contact: Michael Burri
215.567.4004, ext. 105

New Program Will Significantly Reduce Mercury Pollution from Automobiles in Pennsylvania
Public Health and the Environment to Benefit from New Collaboration

Harrisburg, PA - A coalition of automobile dismantlers, mercury recyclers, state regulators and environmentalists today announced the creation of a voluntary program that will prevent hundreds of pounds of toxic mercury pollution from being released into the environment when scrap vehicles in the state are recycled.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Pennsylvania Automotive Recycling Trade Society, the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries, the Steel Recycling Institute, Bethlehem Apparatus and AERC Recycling Solutions and Clean Air Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding creating the Pennsylvania Mercury Automobile Switch Removal Program, which will remove more than 120,000 automobile convenience switches containing mercury each year. By removing mercury-laden convenience switches from older automobiles prior to their being crushed and melted for scrap metal, significant amounts of mercury pollution will be prevented.

"Mercury is a highly toxic chemical that can cause learning disabilities and other developmental defects in children. This collaborative program is an extremely important step in protecting Pennsylvania's children from the dangers of toxic mercury," said Michael Burri of Clean Air Council. "Today, Pennsylvania makes a statement that will be heard in other traditional industrial states and in Washington: mercury switches need to be removed now."

Historically, mercury has been used for convenience lighting that automatically turns on when trunks and hoods are opened. It has also been used in anti-lock brakes. While mercury has just recently been phased out in these applications, approximately 217 million switches containing an estimated 493,000 pounds of mercury were built into automobiles between 1974 and 2003. Many of these cars and trucks remain on the road. When they are no longer drivable, they are typically crushed and melted as scrap metal. Last year, an estimated 18,646 pounds of mercury from automobiles was released into the environment nationwide when retired cars and trucks were scrapped. Auto mercury is the primary contributor of mercury contamination to the steel industry, which ranks as the fourth largest source of mercury emissions in the country.

According to a recent analysis by the Clean Car Campaign, approximately 780 pounds of toxic mercury pollution was released into the environment last year from Pennsylvania's scrap vehicles when they were recycled. An estimated 10,851 pounds of mercury has already been released from Pennsylvania vehicles over the past 30 years, and a similar amount could be released over the coming years if action is not taken soon to recover the mercury in vehicles before they are scrapped.

Notably absent from the Memorandum of Understanding is the participation of the Automobile Alliance of America.

"The auto industry ignored the problem of mercury in convenience-light switches for many years, even though there were safer alternatives," said Burri. "Legislation that requires auto manufacturers to help pay for mercury switch removals is the next obvious step. They created this problem. They should help pay to clean it up."

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