EPA RELEASES NATIONAL TOXIC POLLUTION DATA:
NEW REPORT REVEALS DIOXIN AND MERCURY POLLUTION
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Source: RTK Net.
Press Release
Thursday, May 23, 2002
Contact: Paul Orum, 202-544-9586
Working Group on Community Right-to-Know
EPA RELEASES NATIONAL TOXIC POLLUTION DATA
NEW REPORT REVEALS DIOXIN AND MERCURY POLLUTION
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today
released new national information on industrial
sources of toxic pollution. The data include for the
first time dioxin and large amounts of mercury and
other highly toxic chemicals.
Under the Toxics Release Inventory program, more than
23,000 factories, refineries, mines, power plants, and
chemical manufacturers self-report to EPA emissions of
toxic pollution to air, water, and land.
On- and off-site releases for all TRI industries
totaled 7.10 billion pounds for 2000. These
industries reported creating 37.89 billion pounds of
production related waste, which they partially treated
or disposed.
Environmental groups said the new pollution data show
the continued need for public health protections, and
criticized the Bush Administration for weakening
pollution laws.
Production related waste increased by 8.39 billion
pounds between 1998 and 2000, or some 28.6 percent.
The portion of these production wastes released to the
environment decreased by 409 million pounds, or 5.5
percent, over the same period.
The data show that American industries continue to
produce more and more toxic waste that is treated,
burned, or disposed in somebody’s backyard.
The top five states for toxic releases from
manufacturing industries are: Texas 245,761,545
pounds, Pennsylvania 139,337,978 pounds, Ohio
137,075,843 pounds, Louisiana 135,215,670 pounds,
Indiana 134,272,453 pounds.
The top five states for toxic releases from
non-manufacturing industries such as mines and power
plants are: Nevada 1,003,811,775 pounds, Utah
849,800,537 pounds, Arizona 705,336,645 pounds, Alaska
533,512,830 pounds and Ohio 145,944,153 pounds.
States reporting more than a billion pounds for
production related waste from all covered industries
are: Louisiana 9.41 billion pounds; Texas 4.58 billion
pounds; Alabama 2.89 billion pounds; Illinois 1.62
billion pounds; Nevada 1.29 billion pounds;
Pennsylvania 1.26 billion pounds; Utah 1.23 billion
pounds; Ohio 1.11 billion pounds; and Indiana 1.02
billion pounds. Manufacturing industries generated
some 84 percent of production waste.
Today’s report reflects new reporting for some highly
toxic chemicals that persist in the environment.
Total on- and off-site releases of these long-lasting
chemicals include: dioxin 220 pounds; mercury
4,316,662 pounds; polycyclic aromatics 5,402,975
pounds; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) 1,460,916
pounds, eight highly persistent pesticides (aldrin,
chlordane, heptachlor, isodrin, methoxychlor,
pendimethalin, toxaphene, and trifluralin) 82,443
pounds, and 838,914 pounds of four other persistent
toxic chemicals.
These new data should help people understand the link
between factories that produce PVC plastic and even
larger dioxin emissions that result from burning these
products in backyards, garbage incinerators, and
medical waste incinerators. Most such incinerators
are exempt from TRI.
Dioxin and other long lasting chemicals build up in
the food chain through fish, birds, and other life,
some of which we eat for dinner. The Bush
Administration should release the long-stalled
scientific assessment of dioxin and our health.
The reports show large releases to air of mercury and
polycyclic aromatic compounds from electric utilities
that burn oil or coal. The Bush Administration’s
“Clear Skies” initiative would allow power plants to
release up to three times more mercury than under the
current Clean Air Act rules.
The reports also show large releases to land of
mercury and other chemicals from mining. Crushed
rocks in mining wastes are typically heaped in piles
or impoundments. Water can leach toxic chemicals from
these piles more easily than before the rocks were
mined. The Bush Administration recently proposed to
allow mines to dump more waste rock into streams.
Industries released over a million pounds of
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the environment,
even though PCBs have been banned from electrical
transformers and other uses. Much of this PCB waste
went into hazardous waste landfills.
EPA plans to make TRI data available from
www.epa.gov/tri. The non-profit group OMB Watch will
make the data available soon from www.rtknet.org.
The Working Group on Community Right-to-Know serves a
nationwide network of public interest organization
concerned with our right-to-know about toxic pollution
and chemical hazards.
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Working Group on Community Right-to-Know
218 D Street, SE; Washington, DC 20003
Phone: 202-544-9586; Fax: 202-546-2461
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