diff --git a/merger/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/merger/coordinator/RemoteTaskRunner.java b/merger/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/merger/coordinator/RemoteTaskRunner.java
index 35fe72db968..2a235b88d86 100644
--- a/merger/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/merger/coordinator/RemoteTaskRunner.java
+++ b/merger/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/merger/coordinator/RemoteTaskRunner.java
@@ -211,10 +211,10 @@ public class RemoteTaskRunner implements TaskRunner
               } else {
                 Duration durSinceLastTerminate = new Duration(new DateTime(), lastTerminateTime);
                 if (durSinceLastTerminate.isLongerThan(config.getMaxScalingDuration())) {
-                  log.makeAlert(
-                      "It has been %d millis since last scheduled termination but nodes remain",
-                      durSinceLastTerminate.getMillis()
-                  ).emit();
+                  log.makeAlert("Worker node termination taking too long")
+                     .addData("millisSinceLastTerminate", durSinceLastTerminate.getMillis())
+                     .addData("terminatingCount", currentlyTerminating.size())
+                     .emit();
                 }
 
                 log.info(
@@ -330,7 +330,9 @@ public class RemoteTaskRunner implements TaskRunner
     log.info("Registering retry for failed task[%s]", task.getId());
 
     if (retryPolicy.hasExceededRetryThreshold()) {
-      log.makeAlert("Task [%s] has failed[%d] times, giving up!", task.getId(), retryPolicy.getNumRetries())
+      log.makeAlert("Task exceeded maximum retry count")
+         .addData("task", task.getId())
+         .addData("retryCount", retryPolicy.getNumRetries())
          .emit();
       return;
     }
@@ -542,10 +544,10 @@ public class RemoteTaskRunner implements TaskRunner
         } else {
           Duration durSinceLastProvision = new Duration(new DateTime(), lastProvisionTime);
           if (durSinceLastProvision.isLongerThan(config.getMaxScalingDuration())) {
-            log.makeAlert(
-                "It has been %d millis since last scheduled provision but nodes remain",
-                durSinceLastProvision.getMillis()
-            ).emit();
+            log.makeAlert("Worker node provisioning taking too long")
+               .addData("millisSinceLastProvision", durSinceLastProvision.getMillis())
+               .addData("provisioningCount", currentlyProvisioning.size())
+               .emit();
           }
 
           log.info(
diff --git a/merger/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/merger/coordinator/exec/TaskConsumer.java b/merger/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/merger/coordinator/exec/TaskConsumer.java
index 201bfdf338d..ed7ac9f3f25 100644
--- a/merger/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/merger/coordinator/exec/TaskConsumer.java
+++ b/merger/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/merger/coordinator/exec/TaskConsumer.java
@@ -20,11 +20,9 @@
 package com.metamx.druid.merger.coordinator.exec;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
-import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
 import com.metamx.common.lifecycle.LifecycleStart;
 import com.metamx.common.lifecycle.LifecycleStop;
-import com.metamx.common.logger.Logger;
 import com.metamx.druid.client.DataSegment;
 import com.metamx.druid.merger.common.TaskStatus;
 import com.metamx.druid.merger.common.task.Task;
@@ -35,12 +33,9 @@ import com.metamx.druid.merger.coordinator.TaskQueue;
 import com.metamx.druid.merger.coordinator.TaskRunner;
 import com.metamx.druid.merger.coordinator.VersionedTaskWrapper;
 import com.metamx.emitter.EmittingLogger;
-import com.metamx.emitter.service.AlertEvent;
 import com.metamx.emitter.service.ServiceEmitter;
 import com.metamx.emitter.service.ServiceMetricEvent;
 
-import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
-
 public class TaskConsumer implements Runnable
 {
   private final TaskQueue queue;
@@ -242,17 +237,12 @@ public class TaskConsumer implements Runnable
         emitter.emit(builder.build("indexer/segment/bytes", bytes));
 
         if (status.isFailure()) {
-          emitter.emit(
-              new AlertEvent.Builder().build(
-                  String.format("Failed to index: %s", task.getDataSource()),
-                  ImmutableMap.<String, Object>builder()
-                              .put("task", task.getId())
-                              .put("type", task.getType().toString())
-                              .put("dataSource", task.getDataSource())
-                              .put("interval", task.getInterval())
-                              .build()
-              )
-          );
+          log.makeAlert("Failed to index")
+             .addData("task", task.getId())
+             .addData("type", task.getType().toString())
+             .addData("dataSource", task.getDataSource())
+             .addData("interval", task.getInterval())
+             .emit();
         }
 
         log.info(