Atmospheric mercury in the Latrobe Valley, Australia: Case study June 2013

Author:

Schofield Robyn12,Utembe Steven13,Gionfriddo Caitlin14,Tate Michael5,Krabbenhoft David5,Adeloju Samuel67,Keywood Melita89,Dargaville Roger110,Sandiford Mike1

Affiliation:

1. School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

2. ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

3. Environmental Protection Agency, Macleod, Victoria, Australia

4. Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

5. Wisconsin Water Science Center, US Geological Survey, Middleton, WI, USA

6. School of Chemistry, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

7. Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia

8. Federation University, Churchill, Victoria, Australia

9. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Business Unit, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia

10. Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Gaseous elemental mercury observations were conducted at Churchill, Victoria, in Australia from April to July, 2013, using a Tekran 2537 analyzer. A strong diurnal variation with daytime average values of 1.2–1.3 ng m–3 and nighttime average values of 1.6–1.8 ng m–3 was observed. These values are significantly higher than the Southern Hemisphere average of 0.85–1.05 ng m–3. Churchill is in the Latrobe Valley, approximately 150 km East of Melbourne, where approximately 80% of Victoria’s electricity is generated from low-rank brown coal from four major power stations: Loy Yang A, Loy Yang B, Hazelwood, and Yallourn. These aging generators do not have any sulfur, nitrogen oxide, or mercury air pollution controls. Mercury emitted in the 2015–2016 year in the Latrobe Valley is estimated to have had an externalized health cost of $AUD88 million. Air pollution mercury simulations were conducted using the Weather Research and Forecast model with Chemistry at 3 × 3 km resolution. Electrical power generation emissions were added using mercury emissions created from the National Energy Market’s 5-min energy distribution data. The strong diurnal cycle in the observed mercury was well simulated (R2 = .49 and P value = 0.00) when soil mercury emissions arising from several years of wet and dry deposition in a radius around the power generators was included in the model, as has been observed around aging lignite coal power generators elsewhere. These results indicate that long-term air and soil sampling in power generation regions, even after the closure of coal fired power stations, will have important implications to understanding the airborne mercury emissions sources.

Publisher

University of California Press

Subject

Atmospheric Science,Geology,Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology,Ecology,Environmental Engineering,Oceanography

Reference51 articles.

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