KANSAS CITY — Kansas City could be the future long-term host to thousands of tons of toxic elemental mercury being stockpiled by the federal government.
The U.S. Energy Department has chosen a plant in the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City as one of seven potential sites for the material.
Elemental mercury is created through manufacturing, gold mining and recycling activities. A new federal law requires the department to find one or more locations to store the mercury by 2013. The department estimates government and private users have generated more than 15,000 metric tons, storing it in numerous places.
Other potential locations are in Colorado, Washington state, Nevada, Idaho, South Carolina and Texas.
The department is to hold a public hearing in Kansas City on July 23.