I never really thought about how all that mercury is disposed. It has created havoc in the northeast with the fish populations. They are too toxic now to eat much. A principal source is believed to be air emissions from the municipal trash incinerators (thermometers, button batteries).

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/123/region/Two_federal_sites_interested_i:.shtml

Two federal sites interested in housing nation's mercury supply

By Associated Press, 5/3/2001 03:10

HILLSBOROUGH, N.J. (AP) More than 2,600 metric tons of mercury could be moved out of a federal depot in Hillsborough by 2003 if the government chooses a national storage site.

Two unidentified federal facilities one in Tennessee, the other in Arizona have expressed preliminary interest in housing the toxic material, according to John Reinders, a spokesman for the Defense National Stockpile Center.

They responded to a notice published in the March 5 Federal Register, Reinders said, but neither facility has filed a formal request asking that they be considered as the storage site.

If a facility is chosen, the nation's 4,890-ton mercury stockpile would be moved there in 2003 and would remain there for up to 40 years. The toxic material is now housed at four facilities, including the Somerville Supply Depot in Hillsborough.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2001