The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s posting on Thursday of its annual Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) may be the last detailed picture of chemical pollution in Indiana and the rest of the nation, under a new rule enacted by EPA in December.

But citizens can still find a wealth of information in the most recent TRI, accessed at

http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer

That site allows a search by state, county, and zip code; by chemical, facility, federal facility, trends, geography, and industry. It also allows a generation of a tabular report or map.

Thus a search of all industries, all chemicals, for zip code 46304 generates a report which includes the following information: in 2005 the Northern Public Service Company’s Bailly Generating Station released in total on- and off-site disposal 538,990 pounds of 12 different chemicals; International Steel Group’s Burns Harbor facility, 1,682,413 pounds of 38 different chemicals; and Magnetics International, 4,205 pounds of two different chemicals.

According to the Indiana Public Interest Research Group (INPIRG), which released on Thursday its own report on the 2005 TRI, EPA finalized a new rule on Dec. 22, 2006, which “will reduce the quantity and quality of toxic chemical data submitted under TRI and available to the public.”

The new rule does two things. First, it allows a facility simply to report that a “persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) is present at a facility when the amount of the PBT does not exceed 500 pounds and it is not released into the environment. Previously, a facility had to report the name of the PBT, no matter in what amount it was present, the amount released into the environment (whether into water, say, or underground injection wells), the amount recycled, the amount combusted for energy, and the amount transferred off site.

INPIRG calls PBTs, such as lead and mercury, “a dangerous class of chemical . . . because they remain in the environment for long periods of time, do not readily degrade, and build up or accumulate in body tissue.”

The new rule also increases the reporting threshold for non-PBT chemicals from 500 pounds to 5,000 pounds per year. “The raised threshold permits facilities to forgo detailed reporting and submit only a certification statement if the total reportable amount for a toxic chemical is below 5,000 pounds, provided the total amount of the substance disposed or released to the environment does not exceed 2,000 pounds,” INPIRG said.

“Generally,” INPIRG added, “these changes enable facilities to withhold currently reported information about toxic chemicals and restrict public access to information about toxic chemicals released in communities. A preliminary analysis of the changes by the Government Accountability Office estimated that 3,565 facilities would no longer be required to submit information describing the amount and location of toxic chemical releases.”

Legislation dubbed the Toxic Right-to-Know Protection Act has been introduced in both the House and the Senate which would reverse the EPA rollbacks and restore the lost data.

Indiana 2005

Meanwhile, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) noted on Thursday that, among other things, the 2005 TRI reveals that Indiana’s toxic releases decreased in the manufacturing sector but increased in the utility sector, for a net increase of 4.6 percent or 6.6 million pounds.

The state’s manufacturers accounted for 53 percent of toxic releases in 2005, IDEM said, and “decreased toxic releases by 1.6 million pounds while increasing productivity.”

“Increased product volumes with reduced toxic releases shows that overall manufacturing processes became cleaner and more efficient,” IDEM explained.

The state’s utilities, on the other hand, accounted for 45 percent of toxic releases in 2005, and increased releases by 7.4 million pounds. “While most of the increase is due to increased production and fluctuations in coal blends, part of the increase can also be attributed to revisions in how toxic emissions from electricity generation are calculated,” IDEM said.

TRI data do not include some sources which release large amounts of toxins like citizen activities and other non-industrial sources, IDEM added. “Comparing 1999 TRI data and the 1999 national emissions inventory, motor vehicles released four times the amount of toluene and 2.5 times the amount of xylene as accounted in TRI,” IDEM said. “In the 1999 TRI, toluene was the second highest industrial toxic release and xylene was the fourth highest.”

Since non-industrial sources account for such a large percent of toxic releases, IDEM encourages Hoosiers to reduce activities which may release toxins, by reducing motor vehicle travel, eliminating unnecessary engine idling, and avoiding the over-fertilization of lawns and gardens.

Posted 3/23/2007