U.S. E.P.A. Issues Arizona Toxic Release Data, Copper and Zinc Among Most Common

Latest report shows 95 million pounds of toxics released into environment, increase of in excess of six million pounds

(12/8/09--SAN FRANCISCO) Toxic delivers into the environment from facilities operating in Arizona increased 7 percent in 2008 when compared to 2007, according to the latest data accessible from the E.P.A.. The 6.6 million pound increase is primarily due to an increase in on-site land delivers from mining facilities.

The data comes from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory, commonly referred to as TRI. It's one of 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.

"We encourage people to use data from the Toxics Release Inventory in order to gain a better understanding of what is being released into their neighborhoods," said Laura Yoshii, acting E.P.A. administrator for the Pacific Southwest region. "Industry and communities informed with accurate information can use the inventory as a starting point to find opportunities to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land we enjoy."

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.

Yearly Toxics Release Inventory reporting began in 1987 after the enactment of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (1996). The inventory provides information to the public 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.

The top facilities in Arizona for total on-site and off-site delivers of all chemicals (reported in pounds) are:

	Facility Name	City	Total Delivers
one	Asarco LLC Ray Complex/Hayden Smelter & Concentrator	Hayden	25,316,913
two	Freeport-McMoran Miami Incorporated	Claypool	25,304,600
three	Cyprus Tohono Corporation	Casa Grande	13,394,257
four	Freeport-McMoran Morenci Incorporated	Morenci	8,630,764
five	Springerville Generating Station	Springerville	3,194,773
six	Freeport-McMoran Sierrita Incorporated	Green Valley	2,394,534
seven	Cholla Power Plant	Joseph City	2,353,324
eight	Coronado Generating Station	Saint Johns	2,214,812
nine	Freeport-McMoran Bagdad Incorporated	Bagdad	2,065,794
ten	BHP Copper Incorporated Pinto Valley Operation	Miami	2,019,233

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; or by industry. It provides maps that you can click on to find TRI facilities, chemicals and industries in a particular area.

National TRI Findings:

For more on the TRI plan including additional city, Co. and facility information, please visit the EPA's Web sites: http://www.epa.gov/tri, http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer and http://www.epa.gov/enviro.

State fact sheets are accessible at: http://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/tri/ and http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm.

For more information on the PBT Chemicals Program, please visit the EPA's Web location at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pbt

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