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Vermont Companies Reduce Toxic Releases by 16% 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 -- Vermont's manufacturers reduced the amount of toxics released into the air, water and land by more than two-thirds -- 68%-- between 1988 and 1995, according to data released today by EPA's New England office. The improved environmental performance of Vermont's manufacturing facilities represents a reduction of 16% over the previous year, far out-pacing the 4.9% rate of improvement nationally. Across New England, facilities averaged a 19% reduction in chemical releases.

"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 Vermont manufacturers to EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) declined from 607,000 pounds in 1994 to 511,000 in 1995. In 1988, when the inventory first came into use, Vermont manufacturers released 1,594,000 pounds of toxics into the environment. Vermont's reduction of 68%, 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 Vermont 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
Ethan Allen Inc.	Orleans	138,898
Ethan Allen Inc.	Beecher Falls	96,007
U.S. Samica Corp.	Rutland	91,364
Ethan Allen Inc.	Randolph	47,466
Milton Bradley Co.	Fairfax	37,455
Specialty Paperboard Inc.	Brattleboro	31,000
Rutland Plywood Corp.	Rutland	18,619
C.E. Bradley labs Inc.	N. Brattleboro	16,606
Blodgett Oven Co. Inc.	Burlington	16,600
GS Precision Inc.	Brattleboro	14,913

In Vermont, 63% of toxic wastes were recycled, 1% were used for energy recovery, 24% were treated, and 12% 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.