The Wells Reserve today hosted Senator Susan M. Collins for "Mercury in a Maine Estuary & National Mercury Monitoring Event," presented in conjunction with the BioDiversity Research Institute (BRI).

The institute's Dr. David Evers was on hand to mark the release of a BRI report documenting mercury levels in Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows in New England. According to Evers and his colleagues, the sparrows have elevated levels of mercury in their blood, even when they are distant from active mercury pollution sources, and adults with high levels of mercury may raise fewer young than those with low mercury levels.

Evers said:

Not only are large amounts of toxic mercury still released into our ecosystems, but the federal government has yet to put a monitoring network in place that will track where the mercury pollution is going, what impact it's having, and what difference public policies are making.

Following Evers' remarks, Senator Collins described her bill (S. 843; introduced March 12) to provide for the establishment of a national mercury monitoring program. If enacted, the program would monitor mercury levels in air and watersheds, water and soil chemistry, and aquatic plants and animals at multiple monitoring sites across ecoregions of the United States.

Senator Collins took time to tour the Maine Coastal Ecology Center during her short visit and engaged in lengthy discussion about mercury issues with research director Dr. Michele Dionne and several visiting scientists who collaborate with the Wells Reserve.

Online Resources

• BioDiversity Research Institute (including the Center for Mercury Investigations, the Estuarine Bird Program, and the Mercury Connections report
• Senator Collins