INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY FOR POLLUTION PREVENTION STUDY OF THE NYAS HARBOR CONSORTIUM

objectives were to quantify the sources of past and present emissions of mercury in the Hudson-Raritan basin (HRB), an area of 42,000 square kilometers with a population of fifteen million; to establish an order-of-magnitude material balance of sources and sinks of mercury in the period 1880-2000; and recommend measures that may be taken to decrease mercury contamination in the NY/NJ Harbor. All tonnages are in metric tons unless an exception is noted. Mercury emissions are as reported by companies and environmental agencies. Mercury loads in sediments were estimated on the basis of a limited number of samples and generally accepted sediment flows; their accuracy can be improved by additional sampling over the Harbor area. Past and present sources of mercury in HRB Much of the mercury discarded by humans or deposited by the atmosphere on the HRB surface is gradually conveyed by water and sediment flows to the New York-New Jersey Harbor. The study showed that since the mid-eighties, mercury inputs to NY/NJ Harbor have decreased by a factor of ten. Fo