Environment

Mercury warning too late for loons

by Annmarie Timmins

The state may have satisfied environmental activists when it stepped up its mercury warnings two weeks ago, but it could be too late for some of Maine's wildlife. A recent report written for the state Department of Environmental Protection shows that 25 percent of Maine's loons are threatened by mercury. That is more than double the 10 percent at risk in New York and the 15 percent in New Hampshire and Vermont.

The results have environmentalists concerned about the birds' future: the loons are laying more fragile eggs and spending less time nesting, leaving their young at risk. They are also growing uneven feathers, making it harder to fly than healthy birds.

And while loons are at the greatest risk, researchers are also worried about other fish-eating creatures including bald eagles, great blue herons, king fishers, and mink.

The reason Maine's wildlife is worse off is no secret, according to Drew Major, a biologist with the federal Fish and Wildlife Service and part of the Northeast Loon Study Work Group that wrote the report. Mercury deposits, which show up in the fish loons eat, worsen the farther east you go, and nobody sits farther east than Maine.

The group's report wasn't a surprise for one of Maine's most active environmental groups, but it was a welcomed vindication.

"What [a previous report] and this loon study has made very very clear is that mercury is certainly as bad as environmental activists thought and a lot worse than bureaucrats thought," said Kathleen McGee, coordinator for Maine Toxics Action Coalition.

Dr. Andy Smith, the state's toxicologist, agreed, at least in part: there is more mercury in Maine's lakes and fish. But he warned against assuming the same is true for Mainers.

"The question with mercury is What dose are you getting?" Smith said. "We are worried about people eating one meal a week or one meal a month. The loons are living off fish so their levels would be higher. People are not getting anywhere near the dose loons are getting."

The state revised its warning earlier this month, citing a study from the National Academy of Sciences, which said mercury is so prevalent nationally that it's causing birth defects and brain damage in up to 60,000 newborns each year. According to the state's stricter warning, women and children should eat no more than one meal each month of either brook trout or landlocked salmon.

Smith said last week the loon study has nothing to do with his office's mercury warnings. "One has nothing to do with the other," he said.

McGee, who disagrees, hopes the loon makes a better mascot than the fish has in the crusade to reduce mercury emissions.

"There are 73,000 chemicals in the marketplace, most of which have never been tested," said McGee. "[The loon] is likely to elicit a protective response from people who say, `Please, don't tell me about another chemical I have to worry about."