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Industries Reduce Chemical Releases

Release Date: 6/18/1998
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

     Industries are releasing lower quantities of toxic chemicals into our country’s land, water and air according to the latest Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today.

     "It is gratifying to track the remarkable reductions in industrial chemical releases since these data were first collected in 1988. In the five states of Region 6 releases of the core reportable chemicals have dropped 44.5 percent, or more than 300 million pounds," EPA Regional Administrator Gregg Cooke said.

     Individual manufacturing, processing and federal facilities nationwide are required to submit annual reports listing the amounts of chemicals released into the air, land and water.

     The list of reportable chemicals has expanded. It now includes more than 660 specific chemicals and 28 chemical categories. The core chemicals are those which have neither been deleted nor added since the original 1988 data.

     After verifying the data, it is complied and made available to the public. This provides a report card of the progress being made in reducing the industrial release of toxic chemicals to states, industries and citizens so they can work together for further reductions.

     "The annual TRI is the cornerstone of EPA’s commitment to making important environmental information readily available to citizens. People need and have the right to the best information possible so they can make informed decisions," Cooke said.

     TRI Information is available in public libraries, at the TRI hotline at 1-800-424-9346, or online at the following Internet addresses:

     TRI Home Page: www.epa.gov/opptintr/tri/

     TRI report data: www.epa.gov/enviro/html/tris/tris_overview.html

     TRI data in a variety of formats: www.epa.gov/enviro/html/tris/tris_query_java.html
     
     Additional Right to Know information and databases: www.rkt.net

     Region 6 is comprised of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.