SAN FRANCISCO (3/19/2009) - Toxic delivers into the environment from facilities operating in California increased 23 percent in 2007 when compared to 2006, according to the latest data accessible from the E.P.A..
The data comes from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory, commonly referred to as TRI. It's one of the EPA's biggest publicly accessible databases, arming communities with valuable information on in excess of 650 toxic chemicals released by various industries. The chemical information in the inventory is calculated by industrial facilities and reported to the EPA, as required by law.
"The Toxic Release Inventory plan arms communities with powerful information," said Laura Yoshii, acting E.P.A. administrator for the Pacific Southwest region. "The inventory is a tremendous tool to help protect public health and the environment. Safe communities depend on well-informed citizens."
In California, 1,367 facilities reported a total of 56 million pounds of toxic chemical releases.
Total delivers include toxic chemicals discharged by facilities to air, water, land, and underground, and the amount transferred off-site for disposal. Regulatory controls apply to many of the reported releases. Reporting facilities must comply with environmental requirements set by local, state and federal agencies.
Data from 2007 in California shows:
• Hazardous waste treatment, petroleum refinery, and gold mining account for 60 percent of the delivers in 2007.
• The increased toxic delivers in 2007 were primarily due to a 91 percent increase in land releases, mostly waste disposal. Chemical Waste Management, a hazardous waste treatment facility in Kettlemen City had an increase of 111 percent from 2006 to 2007, approximately 9.7 million pounds.
• Air delivers decreased by nine percent.
• Water delivers decreased 960 thousand pounds.
Yearly Toxic Release Inventory reporting began in 1987. The inventory provides information on Yearly toxic chemical delivers reported by certain industrial and federal facilities. The TRI does not include data on toxic emissions from cars and trucks, nor from the majority of non-industrial sources, such as agriculture.
In 2000, TRI expanded to include persistent bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, or PBTs, at ranges from 0.1 grams to 100 pounds. PBT pollutants are toxic chemicals that remain in the environment and food chain, posing risks to human health and ecosystems. In California, ten million pounds of total on-site and off-site delivers of PBT chemicals were reported. This is an increase of 111 percent from the previous year. An increase of 3.9 million pounds of chemical releases, as reported by Western Mesquite Inc., a gold ore mining facility, drove the overall increase of PBT delivers in the state.
The top facilities in California for total on-site and off-site delivers of all chemicals (reported in pounds) are:
Facility Name City Total Delivers
one Chemical Waste Management Incorporated Kettleman City 18,478,063
two Western Mesquite Mines Incorporated Brawley 3,896,855
three Evergreen Pulp Enterprises Samoa 2,406,150
four Clean Harbors Buttonwillow LLC Buttonwillow 2,096,259
five Quemetco Incorporated City Of Industry 1,797,518
six GE Osmonics Vista 1,638,260
seven Tesoro Refining & Marketing Co. Martinez 1,618,301
eight Valero Refining Co. (California Benicia Refinery) Benicia 1,580,697
nine Exxonmobil Oil Corporation (Torrance Refinery) Torrance 1,253,518
ten Chevron Products Co. (Richmond Refinery) Richmond 926,873
TRI explorer
TRI Explorer is a tool that you can use to see the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. It allows you to look at data by state, county, or zip code; by chemical; by industry. It provides maps that you can click on to find TRI facilities, chemicals and industries in a particular area.
Some findings of interest at the countrywide level:
There was a 5% decrease in total disposal or other Delivers into the environment nationwide from 2006 to 2007.
• PBTs make up 12% of total Delivers and have increased by 1% from 2006-2007. Lead drives overall PBT statistics with 98% of total for 2007. Lead showed a less than 1% increase (3.5 million pounds) from 2006-2007.
• Mercury Delivers increasing by 38% (1.9 million pounds).
• On-site land release down 6% (113 million pounds) since 2006.
Region nine TRI home: http://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/tri/index.html
To view top California facility Delivers by geographic area visit: http://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/tri/report/07/tri-ca.html
The following web sites provide city, Co. and facility information on TRI: http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/ and http://www.epa.gov/enviro. State fact sheets are accessible at: http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm.
