EPA Issues Hawai’i Toxics Inventory Data

Report shows nearly 300,000 pound decrease since 2008

KILAUEA, Pu’u O’o Vent: 2,000,000 lbs. of toxics PER DAY

SAN FRANCISCO– Toxics managed, treated or released into the environment from facilities operating in Hawai’i decreased 9 percent in 2009 when compared to 2008, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The 299,000 pound decline reflects reported decreases in air, water, and land disposals, releases and off-site transfers.

The data comes from the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory, commonly referred to as TRI. It’s one of the EPA’s largest publicly available databases that provides communities valuable information on more than 650 toxic chemical that are managed or released by various industries. The chemical information in the inventory is calculated by industrial facilities and reported to the EPA, as required by law.

“These annual reports arm citizens and local governments with information about toxics that could pose potential hazards in their area,” said Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator for EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “Federal law ensures that all communities have a “Right-To-Know” so they can make informed decisions to reduce chemical use and plan for emergency responses.”

Total releases include toxic chemicals discharged by facilities to air, water, land, and underground, and the amount transferred off-site for disposal. Pollution controls apply to many of the reported releases. Reporting facilities must comply with environmental standards set by local, state and federal agencies.

Release data alone are not sufficient to determine exposure or to calculate potential risks to human health and the environment. TRI data, in conjunction with other information, such as the toxicity of the chemical, the release medium (e.g., air), and site-specific conditions, may be used in evaluating exposures that may result from releases of toxic chemicals.

Here’s a look at toxic disposals and releases in Hawai’i from 2007 – 2009, reported in pounds:

Data from 2009 in Hawai’i shows:

• Total reported on-site and off -site disposals and releases decreased 9% due primarily to decreases across all media—air, water and land releases and off-site transfers, with the exception of an increase in underground injections
• Air have decreased 2% (49,000 pounds)
• Water releases have decreased 59% (327,000 pounds)
• Hawai’i reported an increase in underground injection releases of 29% (1,000 pounds)
• The top five released chemicals are sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitrate compounds, barium compounds and lead and lead compounds
• In Hawai’i, 110,000 pounds of total releases of persistent bioaccumulative and toxic (PBTs) chemicals were reported, a 19% increase or 18,000 pounds. Lead and lead compounds tops the list in 2009.

Annual Toxics Release Inventory reporting began in 1987 after the enactment of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. The Community Right-to-Know provisions help increase the public’s knowledge and access to information on chemicals at individual facilities, their uses, and releases into the environment. States and communities, working with facilities, can use the information to improve chemical safety and protect public health and the environment. 

The inventory provides information to the public on annual toxic chemical releases reported by certain industrial and federal facilities. The TRI does not include data on toxic emissions from cars and trucks, nor from the majority of non-industrial sources, such as agriculture. In 2000, TRI expanded to include persistent bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, or PBTs, at ranges from 0.1 grams to 100 pounds. PBT pollutants are toxic chemicals that remain in the environment and food chain, posing risks to human health and ecosystems.

The top facilities in Hawai’i for total on-site and off-site releases during 2009 of all chemicals (reported in pounds) are:

TRI Explorer
TRI Explorer is a tool that you can use to see the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. It allows you to look at data by state, county, or zip code; by chemical; or by industry. It provides maps that you can click on to find TRI facilities, chemicals and industries in a particular area.

National TRI Findings:

• There was a 12% decrease in total reported releases into the environment nationwide from 2008 to 2009
• The number of facilities reporting chemical releases decreased 7% nationally
   

For more on the TRI program including additional city, county and facility information, please visit the EPA’s Web sites: http://www.epa.gov/tri, http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer and http://www.epa.gov/enviro.

State fact sheets are available at: http://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/tri/ and http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm.

For more information on the PBT Chemicals Program, please visit the EPA’s Web site at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pbt

###