August 20th, 2009

By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now

The EPA earlier this week issued a partial list of toxic chemicals released in the United States between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2008. The preliminary data, part of the Toxics Release Inventory, is now available to the public. It includes nearly 650 chemicals that have been emitted by more than 23,000 industrial facilities. The chemicals came from metal and coal mining, electric utilities and commercial hazardous waste treatment, among others.

The initial list accounts for about 80 to 85 percent of the data to be collected. EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson says that once the EPA has completed gathering the data, a national analysis will be released. By publishing the preliminary data, the EPA wants to demonstrate that the agency has open communication with the American public.

“While we are still analyzing this information,” says Jackson, “we hope this raw data will be reviewed and used responsibly by stakeholders and the public to help them make informed decisions.”

Following several toxic chemical disasters in the early ’80s, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) became law in 1986. Its mission is to inform communities and citizens of chemical hazards in their areas. As part of EPCRA, the EPA and individual states are required to annually collect data on the releases of toxic chemicals from industrial facilities, and then make that information available to the public in the Toxic Release Inventory.

Residents may find details about toxic chemical releases in their area, by going to the TRI site and typing in their zipcode.

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