No. 09-OPA040
(Chicago, Ill. - March 19, 2009) E.P.A. is making accessible the most recent reporting on the amount of toxic chemicals released in Wisconsin and the U.S.
Wisconsin-specific data on facilities and delivers to air, land and water can be found by accessing the state fact sheet at:
http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm
Additional information on delivers on zip code, Co. and facility can be found using the TRI explorer tool at:
http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer
According to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory, the latest data, from the calendar year 2007, show an overall decrease of 5 percent in delivers since 2006. Delivers to air decreased 7 percent and Delivers to water decreased 5 percent.
"This information underscores the need for fundamental transparency and provides a powerful tool for protecting public health and the environment," said E.P.A. Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Serving the public's right to know is the crucial 1st step in reducing toxic chemicals in the places where we live, work, and raise children."
"I'm also pleased," Jackson added, "that Congress under the leadership of Senator Lautenberg took action to restore the rigorous reporting requirements of this vital program."
The report shows increases in the Delivers of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals like lead, dioxin, mercury and PCBs. Overall PBTs Delivers increased one percent. The increases were primarily due to a handful of facilities, and most of the Delivers reported were not to the air or water.
Total disposal or other Delivers of mercury increased 38 percent, but air emissions of mercury were down 3 percent. The majority of mercury Delivers were reported by the mining industry.
PCB Delivers went up 40 percent. E.P.A. banned the production of PCBs in the U.S. in 1979 and disposing of it safely to permitted, hazardous waste landfills is the final important step in removing it from use. Dioxin Delivers or disposal increased eleven percent. Lead Delivers increased by one percent. The majority of lead released was by the mining industry to land.
This year's yearly publication of the data includes 650 chemicals from 22,000 facilities. TRI provides the American public with vital information on chemical Delivers to communities and is an important tool industry can use to gauge its progress in reducing pollution. TRI reporting includes toxics managed in landfills and underground injection wells as well as those released into water and the air.
TRI tracks the chemicals and industrial sectors specified by the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986 and its amendments. The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 also mandates that TRI reports include data on toxic chemicals treated on site, recycled, and burned for energy recovery. Together, these laws require facilities in certain industries to report annually on releases, disposal and other waste management activities related to these chemicals.
Recently, TRI reporting changed with the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 11. The new law returns TRI to the more comprehensive reporting requirements that were in effect before December 21, 2006.
More information on the TRI reporting change:
http://www.epa.gov/tri
TRI 2007 Public Data Release:
http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri07/index.htm
TRI Explorer tool:
http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer
