Albemarle says it has entered an alliance with MeadWestvaco, a Virginia-based company that has a plant in DeRidder, La. Albemarle says the agreement will let it expand its mercury removal line, including products that help coal-fired power plants control emissions and bring them in line with government restrictions. MeadWestvaco makes activated carbon for the process.
Bob Beckler, president of MWV Specialty Chemicals, says the company’s activated carbon technology will combine with Albemarle’s leading position in mercury control technologies to build a “diverse, clean energy solutions portfolio.” Financial details of the alliance were not disclosed.
An EPA document on mercury removal says: “Mercury becomes airborne as a pollutant when coal and other substances burn and falls into lakes and rivers, where it is absorbed by microbes that are in turn eaten by fish. Mercury is especially damaging to the brains of developing fetuses and young children as a result of eating tainted fish.”—Todd R. Brown
