WASHINGTON - November 17 - Industries
across the country reported directly releasing to the air, land, and water nearly 20
million pounds of lead, mercury, and other of the most dangerous substances known to
exist, according to a report released today by U.S. PIRG and the National Environmental
Trust. The report, Poisoning Our Future: The Dangerous Legacy of Persistent Toxic
Chemicals also found that for the most well-known of these substances, this reported
information accounts for only approximately 9 percent of known releases of those
chemicals. The release of this report coincides with the U.S. EPA’s efforts to
reconsider reporting thresholds for certain chemicals.
Mercury, dioxin, lead, and other such chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects,
reproductive and hormone damage, and other health problems. These persistent and
bioaccumulative substances are particularly dangerous because they are highly toxic in
very small quantities, remain in the environment for long periods of time, and build up in
the tissue of animals and humans.
"U.S. industries continue to pollute our air, land, and water with some of the most
harmful substances known to exist, yet because of loopholes in the federal reporting law,
these polluters can leave the public in the dark about the dangerous legacy they are
creating," said Allison LaPlante, U.S. PIRG toxics advocate and a co-author of the
report .
Other major findings of the report include:
The top ten states for releases of metal
persistent bioaccumulative toxins were: MO, MT, AZ, IL, UT, TX, OH, ID,
IN, PA. The top ten states for releases of non-metal persistent bioaccumulative
toxins are: FL, NY, MI, MO, IL, MA, WV, TX, LA, WA.
1996 TRI data accounted for approximately 8
percent of mercury emissions, 35 percent of lead air emissions, and 5 percent of
hexachlorobenzene air emissions. Perhaps most problematic, dioxin, although widely
regarded as the most toxic chemical, is currently not even on the reporting list.
Because reporting thresholds are set too
high, 1996 TRI data accounted for approximately 30 percent of the industries potentially
releasing these substances to the air, land and water.
Major sources of persistent bioaccumulative
toxins reported to 1996 TRI include: primary metals industry, chemical manufacturing,
stone, glass, clay, and concrete production, and the food products industry.
U.S. PIRG and the National Environmental Trust
analyzed releases of 31 toxic substances known to persist in the environment and
bioaccumulate in animals and wildlife, as reported to the Community Right to Know
Act’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) in 1996, the most recent year for which data is
available. However, much of the pollution is not included in TRI, because current
thresholds that trigger reporting requirements are set too high. The groups used several
EPA studies to estimate the actual releases of five of the most well-known of these
substances.
"The nation’s best reporting law tells us almost nothing about those chemicals
that present the greatest threat to public health and the environment. We have the Right
to Know about any releases of these substances into the environment, " said Tom
Natan, Research Director for the National Environmental Trust.
"The International Joint Commission on Great Lakes Water quality, upon the advice of
dozens of leading scientists, has declared that ‘persistent toxic substances are too
dangerous to the biosphere and to humans to permit their release in any
quantity’," said LaPlante of U.S. PIRG. "We should be working to eliminate
these substances, yet the public, policy makers, and even industry themselves, do not have
the information needed to track or promote pollution prevention."
More than 150 members of Congress cosponsored Right to Know expansion legislation,
including a provision to lower reporting thresholds for persistent and bioaccumulative
substances. U.S. PIRG is calling on the Clinton Administration and the EPA to take
critical steps to reduce the use and release of these dangerous substances.
Specifically, the Clinton Administration and the EPA should:
1. Lower Right to Know reporting thresholds to include
information on all persistent or bioaccumulative toxins, and add dioxins to the reporting
list. EPA should set a single zero threshold for reporting of these extremely dangerous
substances;
2. Expand Right to Know reporting to include: all major
sources of pollution, as well as information on toxic chemicals used in the workplace,
transported through communities, and placed in consumer products; and
3. Take steps to eliminate the use and release of substances
like mercury and dioxin by setting strict emissions standards for mercury from power
plants, allowing for no new development of major polluting practices such as waste
incineration, and phasing out any industrial chlorine process that results in the
formation of dioxin.
"As the EPA considers changes to Right to Know reporting requirements, we are calling
on Administrator Browner and her staff to stand strong against the pressure from polluting
industries that have been fighting the public’s Right to Know for years.
If we are working in the dark, we can not hope to find the solution." said LaPlante.
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U.S. PIRG is the national advocacy office for
the state Public Interest Research Groups. PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan,
watchdog organizations that conduct research and public education on environmental,
consumer and democracy issues. A copy of this report is available at our website (www.pirg.org)
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