Minnesota is in first place nationally in sales of fishing licenses per capita.

Thousands of those sales are to nonresidents &045; people from all over the nation who fish our lakes. Fishing is a $1 billion industry in the state. Now, how does fishing relate to solid waste?

I received a very interesting quarterly report from ME3, Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy. This nonprofit organization regularly publishes some very valuable information about our environment and the cause and effect of pollution.

One of their recent publications told yet another story of the toxic pollutant that is high on the MPCA list: Mercury.

The article not only reiterated some of the same old, same old as far as mercury being toxic to humans, but offered new information, most of it bad.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is unsafe for humans of all ages, especially children. One in six women of childbearing age in the U.S. have mercury levels in their blood high enough to put their babies at risk of neurological damage, leading to learning disabilities and reduced intelligence.

Like our recycling programs, all of the easy things have been done to remove mercury emissions from our every day lives. Now the challenge is to reduce mercury levels even further, and some of the measures that must be taken are not easy, nor are they cheap.

ME3 is a founding partner of Mercury-Free Minnesota, a campaign by organizations working to build public awareness and political momentum to phase out mercury emissions in Minnesota.

Mercury-Free Minnesota supports comprehensive legislation for the 2005 session that establishes enforceable and gradual mercury reduction targets, leading to virtual elimination of human-caused emissions by 2020.

The agenda includes, funding research to reduce mercury emissions from taconite production, phase out mercury in products, including vaccines and motor vehicles, broaden mercury labeling and disposal laws to ensure removal from the solid waste stream of products that contain mercury, including dental amalgams, and tighten the statewide water quality standard for mercury.

Here in Freeborn County there are numerous opportunities to do your part in reducing mercury in our environment. What happens to mercury (silver) thermometers when they break?

The mercury goes down the sink or into the trash and eventually into our environment.

Mercury evaporates at a very slow rate, and with the furnace running this winter and the dry air in our homes, mercury spilled on the carpet or small beads that rolled into the linoleum and along the mop boards will sit and slowly evaporate into our living area for months.

The Environmental Services Department will accept mercury thermometers from your medicine cabinet at our office and exchange it for a digital unit FREE. We limit them to one per household so we have enough for everyone, but we’ll accept all mercury you bring in to our office.

If you have an old thermostat, or, believe it or not, a jar of mercury, or any other device containing mercury in your home, bring it to our office for disposal.

There is no cost and the possibility of an accidental spill and contamination in your home can be avoided.

When bringing large quantities of mercury, be sure to secure it in a container with tight fitting lid. Our office also has mercury spill kits that we lend out if you have an accidental spill

somewhere in your home.

Call 377-5258 for more information.

Randy Tuchtenhagen

Freeborn County Solid Waste Office.