Lichens located 250 meters downwind of the factory measured mercury levels 17 times greater than background level after three months. The lichen monitoring site 1,250 meters downwind from the plant absorbed only twice the background level of mercury. Pavely points out that the mercury escaping from the Vulcan plant is in its elemental form and can't be absorbed by the tissues of fish and other creatures. Scientists believe, however, that bacteria in many lakes and waters will change elemental mercury into methylmercury, the form that does accumulate and move up the food chain. Vulcan is not the only mercury polluter in the state.
Sources located outside of the state also contribute to Wisconsin's mercury rain.
Locally, the Wisconsin Electric Power Co. is one of the leading mercury polluters. He complains that the DNR prints only 40,000 copies of its fish advisory despite the nearly one million people who fish the state's waters. The DNR has issued a white paper on the mercury problem and has convened a stakeholders' group of businesses, legislators, environmentalists, Native Americans, hospital associations and lake associations to look at the issue. The group has met three times and will visit the Vulcan plant in June as part of its next meeting. He says the Vulcan management has indicated a willingness to work on the problem.