government &
policy
CHEMICAL PRODUCERS' TRI RANKING FALLS With more industries added, chemical makers no longer top the Toxics Release Inventory Cheryl Hogue C&EN Washington
T
he chemical industry is no longer number one—that is, it no longer is first in the amount of reported toxic chemical releases. The chemical industry had ranked number one for the amount of substances reported to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) each year for the past decade. But in 1998, the metal-mining industry emitted nearly 2.8 billion lb more than chemical makers, taking the number-one spot. Electric utilities • placed second, and the chemical industry ended up third for 1998. Toxic chemical releases reported for 1998 were an eye-popping 7.3 billion lb, according to figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month. For 1997, the overall TRI figure was almost twothirds lower, at nearly 2.6 billion lb. These big changes are not because of a sudden surge in pollution or catastrophic accidents. Instead, they are due to several industrial sectors—particularly metal mining— joining manufacturers for the first time in reporting their annual releases of toxic chemicals to EPA Manufacturers, including chemical producers, have had tofileTRI reports since 1988. But starting with the year 1998, seven more sectors were added: metal mining; electric utilities; coal mining; chemical wholesalers; petroleum bulk plants and terminals; solvent recovery; and hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal (C&EN, July 12,1999, page 4). This shifted the industrial rankings for overall TRI releases. Established under the Emergency Planning & Community Right-To-Know Act, TRI is intended to allow the public to identify facilities and the toxic chemicals they release or manage as waste on an annual basis. Facilities within the eight covered sectors that manufacture or process at least 25,000 lb or use more 46
MAY 29, 2000 C&EN
than 10,000 lb per year of substances listed on TRI must file reports to EPA for each calendar year on their releases. Nearly 650 chemicals and categories of chemicals are included. The chemical industry has seen its releases go down consistently since it began TRI reporting in 1988. Jim Solyst, coleader of the Chemical Manufacturers Association's team on information management and right-to-know, says this industry's release of the 300 "core" TRI chemicals has dropped 57% since the
Chemical sector contributed 10% of 1998 TRI releases Metal mining 48%
Electric utilities 15% Chemicals 10% Primary metals 8% Other 15%
Solvent recovery 4%
1998 reported toxic releases = 7.3 billion lb Source: Environmental Protection Agency
start of the program. This compares favorably to the 45% decrease of reported releases of these core chemicals by the entire manufacturing sector since 1988. "Public reporting is only part of the reason for our success in reducing emissions," Solyst says. "In our industry, a more significant reason for the decline has been our commitment to improve our overall environmental and health and safety performance." Lois Epstein, senior engineer for Environmental Defense, an activist group formerly known as the Environmental Defense Fund, says the overall TRI data for previous years reflected mainly air toxics released by manufacturers. The figures
for 1998, when the seven additional industries were included in reporting, are more heavily weighted toward chemicals that are released to land, rather than to air or water, she says. With the addition of the new industries to the TRI, metal mining now accounts for the lion's share of TRI releases—48% of the 1998 total, according to EPA's figures. Most of metal-mining releases, not surprisingly, are to land. This sector contributed 80% of all reportable land releases in 1998. Second-place utilities accounted for 15% of total TRI releases, followed by chemical manufacturing with 10%. In contrast, the chemical industry was responsible for 31% of reported TRI releases in 1997. This shift is spurring environmental activists to call for tighter pollution controls at mining operations and utilities. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide are not covered by TRI reporting. Both NOx and S0 2 contribute to acid rain. NOx is also a precursor to ground-level ozone, or smog. • Tom Natan, research director for the National Environmental Trust, says that adding the new industrial categories to the TRI "has been a great leap in our understanding of air pollution." For instance, the 1998 data show that metal mining is a significant source of airborne mercury, he says. EPA did not anticipate that this source was so large when it prepared a study on mercury emissions for Congress in the late 1990s, Natan says. The new TRI information also reflects differences in how EPA regulates air emissions across industrial sectors. The data show that coal-fired utilities release far more hydrofluoric acid than do chemical manufacturers, he says. Utilities' HF is a by-product of combustion, he explains. Natan says the TRI data also demonstrate unanticipated benefits from S0 2 and NOx controls at coal-fired utilities. Power plants equipped with technology to control these emissions had lower releases of several acid aerosols—hydrochloric and nitric acids as well as HF— than did power generators that did not have these controls, he says. Utilities with S0 2 and NOx controls nonetheless emitted copious quantities of these acid aerosols, Natan adds. Utilities led all industries with air emissions, contributing 38% of those reported, followed by the chemical industry with nearly 16%. But the chemical industry outpaced any other sector in un-
TRI releases in 1998 for top 25 manufacturing facilities Facility name
County, state
Magnesium Corp. of America Asarco Asarco Ray Complex/Hayden Smelter Kennecott Utah Copper Smelter & Refinery Armco Butler Operations
Tooele, Utah 57,691,060 Lewis and Clark, Mont. 47,006,116 Gila, Ariz. 45,993,686 Salt Lake, Utah 34,495,395 Butler, Pa. 31,685,090
6 7 8 9 10
Solutia DuPont Victoria Plant Phelps Dodge Hidalgo PCS Nitrogen Fertilizer L.P. Zinc Corp. of America Monaca Smelter
Escambia, Fla. Victoria, Texas Hidalgo, N.M. Ascension, La. Beaver, Pa.
27,138,858 24,841,060 22,776,815 22,119,671 20,942,312
11 12 13 14 15
Cytec Industries Fortier Plant Nucor BASF Lenzing Fibers Rouge Steel
Jefferson, La. Montgomery, Ind. Brazoria, Texas Hamblen, Tenn. Wayne, Mich.
19,941,111 19,559,326 18,657,671 17,645,824 16,125,457
16 17 18 19 20
Elementis Chromium L.P. USS Gary Works Elkem Metals BP Chemicals Northwestern Steel & Wire
Nueces, Texas Lake, Ind. Washington, Ohio Allen, Ohio Whiteside, III.
16,117,055 15,495,424 14,667,177 13,887,526 12,982,050
21 22 23 24 25
IMC Agrico Faustina Plant BP Chemicals Green Lake Facility Nucor-Yamato Steel National Steel, Great Lakes Division Acordis Cellulosic Fibers
St. James, La. Calhoun, Texas Mississippi, Ariz. Wayne, Mich. Mobile, Ala.
12,804,512 12,404,941 11,253,602 11,185,664 11,098,200
Rank
1 2 3 4 5
Total (lb)
TRI = Toxics Release Inventory. Source: Environmental Protection Agency
derground injection of wastes, accounting for 77% in 1998. It also ranked first for surface-water discharges, contributing 41% of the total. Meanwhile, the addition of the industry sectors, particularly mining, has rearranged the ranking order of chemicals released in the greatest quantities. In 1998, copper compounds topped the list with some 1.3 billion lb reported, nearly all released onto land. This contrasts with 1997, when copper compounds ranked number 12, with releases of nearly 54.8 million lb reported. Zinc compounds, used widely in industry, ranked second in 1998 with 925.4 million lb, more than triple the almost 306 million lb reported in 1997, when zinc compounds held the numberone position. Hydrochloric acid aerosols moved up from 11th place in 1997 to third in 1998. Because utilities were added to the TRI system, well over nine times as much hydrochloric acid aerosols were reported in 1998 than in 1997. Other chemicals and their ranks on the TRI "top 10" for 1998 were manganese compounds (4), arsenic compounds (5), copper (6), lead compounds
(7), nitrate compounds (8), barium compounds (9), and methanol (10). Despite the addition of industries reporting under TRI, some chemicals saw a decrease in releases in 1998. Methanol was ranked second in 1997 with
Chemical industry releases continue to fall Millions of lb 1,000 800 600 400
•••.
200
1995 1996 1997 1998 D Off-site releases • Releases to land • Underground injection D Surface-water • Air emissions discharges Source: Environmental Protection Agency
221.1 million lb of releases. But in 1998, 4.6 million lb less was reported. Among other chemicals showing a drop in reported releases from 1997 to 1998 were ammonia, toluene, phosphoric acid, nhexane, and chlorine. The TRI data also show which chemicals were released to water, air, or land, or were injected underground. Nitrate compounds accounted for 74% of all reportable discharges into water in 1998, followed by phosphoric acid with 12% and ammonia with 3%. For 1998 air emissions, hydrochloric acid aerosols were number one with 29%, while sulfuric acid aerosols and methanol were next, each contributing 9% of the total. For chemicals injected underground, nitrate compounds accounted for 20%; ammonia, 10%; and nitric acid, 9%. Copper compounds made up 30% of the 1998 releases to land, zinc compounds followed with 18%, and arsenic compounds were 12%. Meanwhile, the numbers for nitrates discharged in water could rise in the face of a new EPA crackdown on facilities, including some chemical plants, that neutralize nitric acid as part of their treatment of wastewater. Operations commonly use sodium or potassium hydroxide to raise the pH of wastewater containing nitric acid before discharging it. According to EPA, "a facility treating or neutralizing 18,000 lb or more of nitric acid on-site with sodium hydroxide to a pH greater than 6 will likely manufacture 25,000 lb of sodium nitrate" and thus will have to file a TRI report for nitrates. In April, EPA sent letters to operations that reported on-site treatment of nitric acid in excess of 18,000 lb but did not provide TRI submissions on nitrates. The agency offered to settle the violations for companies that amend their TRI reports and pay a fine, which is lower than usual, for the violations. Jamie Conrad, CMA counsel, says nitrates are one of the top 10 TRI compounds because "everybody produces tons of them" in wastewater treatment. In addition, municipal wastewater treatment plants discharge tons of nitrates each year but are not required to file TRI reports on these compounds, he says. Conrad faults EPA for focusing so much attention on nitrates, which have low toxicity. EPA would be better served by focusing on TRI chemicals that pose significant risks to humans, Conrad says. The 1998 TRI data are available on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/tri.^ MAY29,2000C&EN
47
