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Rhode Island Companies Reduce Toxic Releases by 15.5% in Single Year; EPA Names Ten Largest Pollution Emitters

Release Date: 05/20/1997
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Press Office, (617) 918-1064

Boston -- Rhode Island's manufacturers reduced the amount of toxics released into the air, water and land by 60% between 1988 and 1995, according to data released today by EPA's New England office. The improved environmental performance of Rhode Island's manufacturing facilities represents a reduction of 16% over the previous year, far out-pacing the national rate of improvement of 4.9%. Across New England, facilities averaged chemical release reductions of 19%.

"We've made great progress in reducing the toxic chemicals released into the New England environment in the last nine years," said EPA's New England Administrator John P. DeVillars. "And we've grown our economy at the same time. This adds further credibility to our claim that smart environmental practices equal smart business practices."

"The Clinton-Gore administration has made the public's right to know about pollution in every community a top priority," said DeVillars. "Just last month the President called for approximately 6,100 new facilities -- an increase of about 30% -- to make public the levels of toxic chemicals they release into the air, water and land in communities across the country. The Clinton-Gore administration and EPA are empowering communities to hold industry and government accountable for environmental and public health protection."

The amount of toxic pollutants reported by Rhode Island manufacturers to EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) declined from 3,026,000 pounds in 1994 to 2,555,000 in 1995. In 1988, when the inventory first came into use, Rhode Island manufacturers released 6,321,000 pounds of toxics into the environment. Rhode Island' reduction of 60%, as well as the New England-wide drop of 74%, of toxic releases since 1988 compares favorably to the national reduction of 45.6% over the same period.

The following is a list of the ten top industrial facilities in Rhode Island in terms of number of pounds of chemicals emitted into the environment. It is important to note that these chemical emissions are reported to EPA under the TRI and do not reflect illegal discharges of pollutants to the environment.

COMPANY NAME	ADDRESS	TOTAL # pounds Chemicals emitted
Quebecor	Providence	954,760
Kenyon Ind. Inc.	Kenyon	236,956
Rexam D.S.I.	Johnston	200,450
Coats American	Bristol	185,589
Osram Sylvania Inc.	Central Falls	110,203
Arkwright Inc.	Fiskeville	104,555
Facile Holdings Inc.	Rumford	65,068
Dewal Ind. Inc.	Narragansett	59,800
TPI Inc.	Portsmouth	57,192
Kenyon Laminating Peace	Dale	52,690

"These data underscore the fact that EPA and state agencies can reap great environmental and public health benefits by encouraging responsible companies to prevent pollution," DeVillars added. "Despite our continued progress, this inventory also reminds us that we are still releasing millions of pounds of toxic chemicals into our environment each year."

In Rhode Island, 72% of toxic wastes were recycled, 2% were used for energy recovery, 19% were treated, and 7% were released in 1995, according to the TRI.

The reporting of data to the Toxics Release Inventory is required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, passed in 1986. The TRI provides the amount, location and type of release to the environment -- whether a pollutant is emitted into the air, discharged into the water, or released onto the land. It also includes information on waste shipped off-site for disposal or further treatment. The TRI has been credited with arming communities with valuable knowledge and encouraging facilities to reduce their releases of toxic chemicals into the environment through source reduction, or pollution prevention, measures.

TRI information is easily accessible to the news media and to the public. Information is available on-line, in hard copy and in a variety of computer formats, including CD-ROM. For copies or more information, the public is encouraged to call EPA's toll-free Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Information Hotline at 1(800) 424-9346.