The Oregonian Bulbs bring environmental issue to light
04/05/04 MICHELLE COLE
The smaller, energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs that flooded Oregon during the 2001 power crisis are expected to burn out during the next six years, posing a peculiar disposal problem: about 3 million bulbs containing a whopping 33 pounds of mercury.
"It's something you can't just ignore," said Wayne Lei, director of environmental policy for Portland General Electric.
In 2001, with California experiencing power blackouts and the Northwest nervous about the energy supply, the region's utilities distributed more than 8 million energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs.
PGE gave away about 1.2 million bulbs or coupons allowing customers to buy compact fluorescents at a deep discount. In total, utilities helped put 2.9 million bulbs in Oregon homes and businesses during the crisis.
On balance, experts agree that compact fluorescents are a plus for the environment because they consume about 25 percent of the energy that standard incandescent bulbs use. But compact fluorescents also contain 4 milligrams to 5 milligrams of mercury. Even in milligrams, mercury is a persistent toxic pollutant if released into the air or surface and ground waters.
Aware of the problem, PGE, PacifiCorp, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and others engaged the Zero Waste Alliance, a Portland nonprofit, to study bulb recycling and disposal options.
Researchers looked to Minnesota, where it's illegal to throw away compact fluorescent bulbs with household trash.
Since 1993, Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy has sponsored a program encouraging customers to take burned-out bulbs back to hardware and other retail stores. The utility offers 50-cent coupons covering all or part of the cost of recycling.
About 200,000 bulbs are recycled each year, said Kim Sherman, an Xcel marketing manager.
"Customers like it. The hardware stores like it. The recyclers like it. Everybody benefits," Sherman said.
It is not illegal in Oregon for households and small businesses to put compact fluorescents in their trash. But Zero Waste Alliance liked the Minnesota model and recommended that it be tried in Portland and other urban and rural communities.
Discussions ended a year ago, however, when it came to the question of who would pay for it.
Lei said PGE, as required by law, sends millions of dollars each year to the Energy Trust of Oregon and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. The nonprofit organizations are supposed to use the money to operate energy-conservation programs, including encouraging people to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs.
"They have the money and the mandate to do this work," he said.
Not exactly, said Stacey Hobart, spokeswoman for the Efficiency Alliance, a partnership that includes utilities, state governments and public interest groups.
"We don't feel like it's our place to fund the entire effort," Hobart said. "Our mission is energy-efficiency work. We're not a recycling organization."
The only progress in Oregon toward establishing a convenient bulb recycling program is in the Eugene-Springfield area, where utility and county executives met last month to discuss how to involve retailers in taking back bulbs.
No one can say for sure what a compact fluorescent recycling program would cost. The Zero Waste Alliance estimates that a one-year pilot program in a community such as Hillsboro could run $44,000.
The state sponsors household hazardous-waste collection days, when residents can drop off bulbs. In the Portland area, the Metro regional government operates two hazardous-waste collection centers that accept the bulbs at no cost.
Neither the state nor local governments plan to pick up the costs of a more convenient or comprehensive bulb recycling infrastructure.
"There's a difference of opinion about who is responsible," said Abby Boudouris, household hazardous-waste coordinator for the Oregon DEQ.
"We were sponsors of the Zero Waste project," she said. "It was a good approach. I just wish it had gone forward."
Mercury accumulates in body tissues, increasing in concentration as animals higher on the food chain eat smaller animals. When people are exposed to enough mercury, often from eating poisoned fish, they can suffer mental problems and impaired vision, speech, hearing and coordination. Fetuses and young children are especially at risk because of their developing nervous systems.
Environmental regulators have long been concerned about conventional fluorescent lighting tubes, which also contain mercury. The smaller and increasingly more plentiful bulbs add a twist.
The DEQ found that fluorescent lamps -- compact lights, longer tubes and neon lights -- account for 210 pounds of mercury disposed of annually in Oregon. About 20 percent of the fluorescent lamps in Oregon are recycled, according to the DEQ. Mercury from the remaining fluorescents is either released into the atmosphere or disposed of in landfills.
Abandoned mines remain one of the largest sources of mercury in the state, with former mercury mines releasing an estimated 680 pounds a year into the environment.
Larry Chalfan of the Zero Waste Alliance says an estimated 500,000 compact fluorescents will be disposed of in Oregon this year. And consumers continue to buy the energy-efficient bulbs.
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