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EPA issues national and state toxic chemical release report for 2003

Release Date: 5/11/2005
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Denver – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today issued its annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report, which provides details about the amount of toxic chemicals released into the air, discharged into water, placed on the land or underground, and disposed of as waste by facilities across the country. The data made available today are for releases that took place during 2003.

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 required EPA to establish the Toxics Release Inventory. The TRI is an online, computerized database that contains toxic chemical release information covering more than 650 chemicals and chemical categories collected from reports submitted to EPA and the states by manufacturing companies, coal and metal mines, electric utilities, hazardous waste treatment sites, chemical distributors and federal facilities.

More than 25,000 facilities nationwide provide details on their releases of chemicals to the environment. Included in the report is a listing of individual states and the amounts of toxic chemicals released into the environment within their borders. Individual cities and zip codes can also be selected from the TRI database and have releases within their confines broken out by type of chemical and by quantity released. The database provides a comprehensive overview of toxic chemical releases in the United States.

"The intent of TRI is to provide information to citizens so that they can take an active role in protecting their environment," said EPA's regional administrator in Denver, Robbie Roberts. "An informed, empowered public is one of the most effective tools in environmental protection."

Nationally, total TRI releases fell to 4.4 billion pounds in 2003 from 4.8 billion pounds reported in 2002. This decrease in releases for 2003 is largely the result of a major metals processing facility in Arizona reporting a 248 million pound decrease in releases for 2003 from 2002 as well as year to year variations in releases as reported by the hard rock (metal) mining industry.

National Releases
Total Releases Total Releases All Industries
All Industries Except Metal Mining

2000 6.6 3.7
2001 5.6 3.3
2002 4.8 3.5
2003 4.4 3.2


Region 8 States at a Glance

Colorado

Colorado facilities reported 22,517,511 total pounds of toxic chemicals released to the environment in 2003, with 80%, or 18,043,008 pounds, released on-site. On-site releases include chemicals released to the air, water and land at the facility. Chemicals that are transferred to other sites for disposal are not included in the on-site releases total. Total on-site releases by all reporting industries in Colorado decreased in 2003 to 18.0 million pounds from the 2002 level of 21.2 million pounds. Colorado ranked 38th nationwide in total on-site releases. (Please see the Colorado 2003 State Fact Sheet on the Internet at www.epa.gov/triexplorer.)

All Industries Except
All Industries Metal Mining

2000 24.8 13.1
2001 35.6 13.6
2002 21.2 15.3
2003 18.0 12.1

Montana

Montana facilities reported 45,206,583 total pounds of toxic chemicals released to the environment in 2003, with 98%, or 44,235,667 pounds, released on-site. On-site releases include chemicals released to the air, water and land at the facility. Chemicals that are transferred to other sites for disposal are not included in the on-site releases total. Total on-site releases by all reporting industries in Montana increased in 2003 from 2002 due primarily to variations in releases as reported by metal mines. Montana ranked 25th nationwide in total on-site releases. (Please see the Montana 2003 TRI State Fact Sheet on the Internet at www.epa.gov/triexplorer.)

All Industries Except
All Industries Metal Mining

2000 117.7 58.8
2001 60.9 36.4
2002 32.1 14.4
2003 44.2 15.0

North Dakota

North Dakota facilities reported 23,638,798 total pounds of toxic chemicals released to the environment in 2003, with 61%, or 14,425,362 pounds, released on-site. Electric utilities in North Dakota transfer about 45% of their wastes off site for release. On-site releases include chemicals released to the air, water and land at the facility. Chemicals that are transferred to other sites for disposal are not included in the on-site releases total. Total on-site releases by all reporting industries in North Dakota declined in 2003 from 2002. North Dakota ranked 41st nationwide in total on-site releases. (Please see the North Dakota 2003 TRI State Fact Sheet on the Internet at www.epa.gov/triexplorer.)
All Industries

2000 15.6
2001 16.9
2002 16.0
2003 14.4

South Dakota

South Dakota facilities reported 10,320,113 total pounds of toxic chemicals released to the environment in 2003, with 99%, or 10,226,004 pounds, released on site. On-site releases include chemicals released to the air, water and land at the facility. Chemicals that are transferred to other sites for disposal are not included in the on-site releases total. Total on-site releases by all reporting industries declined in 2003 from 2002. The total for all industries except for metal mining showed an increase in 2003 from 2002. South Dakota ranked 42nd nationwide in total on-site releases. (Please see the South Dakota State Fact Sheet on the Internet at www.epa.gov/triexplorer/ ).

All Industries Except
All Industries Metal Mining

2000 9.5 5.8
2001 13.5 7.2
2002 11.9 5.8
2003 10.2 6.1

Utah

Utah facilities reported 241,995,287 total pounds of toxic chemicals released to the environment in 2003, with 99%, or 238,918,214 pounds, released on site. On-site releases include chemicals released to the air, water and land at the facility. Chemicals that are transferred to other sites for disposal are not included in the on-site releases total. Total on-site releases by all reporting industries increased in 2003 from 2002 due to an increase in releases reported by the mining industry, with the total for all other industries showing a third consecutive yearly decrease in releases. Utah ranked 3rd nationwide in total on-site releases. (Please see the Utah 2003 TRI State Fact Sheet on the Internet at www.epa.gov/triexplorer.)

All Industries Except
All Industries Metal Mining

2000 456.3 121.6
2001 251.6 62.3
2002 173.2 58.8
2003 238.9 57.3

Wyoming

Wyoming facilities reported 19,263,357 total pounds of toxic chemicals released to the environment in 2003, with 95%, or 18,229,277 pounds, released on site. On-site releases include chemicals released to the air, water and land at the facility. Chemicals that are transferred to other sites for disposal to the environment are not included in the on-site releases total. Total on-site releases by all reporting industries in Wyoming increased in 2003 from 2002. Wyoming ranked 37th nationwide in total on-site releases. (Please see the Wyoming 2003 State Fact Sheet on the Internet at www.epa.gov/triexplorer.)
All Industries

2000 20.0
2001 16.9
2002 17.0
2003 18.2

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Information contained in the TRI is used by federal, state and local governments, citizens and businesses to track the generation, release, fate and transport of various chemicals over time. Using this information, governments, businesses and citizens can work together to promote pollution prevention and to protect the quality of their land, air and water. Additionally, this knowledge can be an important tool in the development of environmental policies and to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental programs.

The 2003 TRI EPA national press release is available online at https://www.epa.gov/tri . Additional background information on the TRI program and direct access to the TRI are available online at: www.epa.gov/triexplorer or www.epa.gov/enviro . For data use assistance, contact the EPA Region 8 TRI Coordinator Joyel Dhieux at 303-312-6447 or via e-mail at: [email protected]. Easy to use TRI Internet instructions are also available on the Region 8 Web page at: www.epa.gov/region8/toxics_pesticides/epcra/resources.html