GOVERNMENT & POLICY BIG RELEASES Kennecott Copper mine in Utah and its associated concentration plants top the 1999 TRI list with more than a billion pounds of toxics. largest percentage jump in the one-year period—a 28.3% rise from the 1.5 million lb logged in 1998 to the almost 2 million lb recorded for 1999. Two-thirds of chemical wholesalers' releases were air emissions, which were composed mainly of methanol, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, dichloromethane, and chlorodifluoromethane (hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22, a coolant).
DOWN IN THE COUNT While toxic releases rise overall, those reported by the chemical sector continue to decline CHERYL HOGUE, C&EN WASHINGTON
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MISSIONS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS
by manufacturers, including chemical producers, continue to fall, the Environmental Protection Agency's most recently released Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) numbers show Manufacturers' collective decrease was 2.5% from 1998 to 1999, continuing an impressive downward trend that began after TRI reporting was initiated in 1988. "I am pleased at t h e significant progress being made as the trend continues downward," EPA Administrator Christine Todd W h i t m a n says. "We're seeing constant decreases of emissions to air, land, and water, especially in the manufacturing industries, where there HTTP://PUBS.ACS.ORG/CEN
has been a 4 6 % decrease over the 12-year history of the program." But for all industries that must submit T R I reports, the downward trend in the manufacturing sector was overwhelmed by hundreds of millions of pounds of increases in T R I releases by mining from 1998 to 1999, according to EPA data released earlier this month. The expanded contributions from the mining sector were the main reason why T R I chemicals for all industries collectively increased 5.0% from 1998 to 1999, rising from 738 billion lb to 7.75 billion lb. While the mining sector had the greatest change in the amount of chemicals released from 1998 to 1999, EPAsays that chemical wholesale distributors had the
CHEMICAL PRODUCERS ratcheted down their T R I releases more than did the manufacturing sector as awhole between 1998 and 1999, the EPA figures show Chemical industry releases declined 2.4% from nearly 687 million lb to 670 million lb. T h e American Chemistry Council (ACC) points out that the chemical manufacturing industry has seen its total releases decrease steadily during the 12 years since T R I reporting was started, a time when the economy has been strong and the output of chemical manufacturers grew by a third. For the 1 9 9 5 - 9 9 period, releases of toxics from the chemicals sector dropped 19% while its production grew 16%, ACC notes. But Paul Orum, director of the Working Group on Community Right-to-Know, says the drop in overall releases of T R I substances fails to reveal an important trend. The total amount ofwaste managed by chemical manufacturers continues to grow, virtually paralleling the increase in production, he notes. For 1995 to 1999, T R I data show that total productionrelated waste managed by chemical producers rose 22%, higher than the 16% growth in output during the same period. The chemical industry T R I data for 1999 report 8.9 million lb of total productionrelated waste managed. Orum argues that the TRI waste figures provide incentives for chemical firms to reduce the creation ofwaste that needs to get recycled, incinerated, or treated to make it less toxic. Source reduction of waste would help reduce worker exposure to toxic substances, firm liability for pollution, and the cost of managing wastes, he says. Examination of the T R I data on substances released by chemical manufacturers shows nitrate compounds top the list at 123 million lb in 1999. More than half of these nitrate compounds were discharged into surface waters, and another third were injected underground. C & E N / A P R I L 3 0 , 2001
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GOVERNMENT & POLICY remains unclear whether the Bush Administration will appeal the case. If the ruling stands, mining facilities will not have to file T R I reports for 2000—paperwork that is due inJuly
FALLING Chemical industry releases continue to decline Million lb 800 600 400 200 0
!•
i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i 11 1995
96
H Air emissions • Water discharges
97
98
99
H Underground injection • Releases to land
SOURCE: Environmental Protection Agency
WHEN JUST SURFACE water discharges are considered for 1999, chemical manufacturing leads among all industries with 77 million lb, followed by the primary metals and food sectors. Most of the chemical industry's discharges were nitrate compounds. Among chemical manufacturing facilities, a BASF plant in Freeport, Texas, led in surface water discharges of T R I chemicals for the year with 19 million lb, virtually all nitrate compounds. The chemical sector also led all industries in underground injection of TRI substances, disposing of 195 million lb of these materials through this technique. Underground injection is a disposal method in which liquid wastes are placed in deep wells drilled into confined geological formations that keep the wastes from getting into drinking water supplies. Nitrate compounds, ammonia, acetonitrile, and nitric acid together accounted for half of the TRI chemicals injected underground by the
Chemical industry contributed 9% of 1999 TRI releases Solvent Other recovery; 13% 4% Primary metal 8%
Metal mining 51%
Chemical 9% Electric utility 15% 1999 TRI releases = 7.8 billion lb a Includes hazardous waste management. SOURCE: Environmental Protection Agency
Second among the substances released by chemical makers in 1999 was ammochemical industry in 1999, EPA data show nia, just over 100 million lb of it. A majorSolutia's plant in Gonzalez, Fla., was the ity of this ammonia was emitted into the largest underground injector of TRI chemicals among the chemical industry with air, while most of the remainder was 32 million lb, of which 23 million lb was injected underground. nitrate compounds. Methanol ranked third. Nearly twothirds of the almost 47 million lb of For air emissions alone, electric utilities methanol released by the chemical sector ranked number one with 842 million lb, folin 1999 was emitted into the air. Almost all lowed by the chemical sector with 288 million lb. For chemical producers, ammonia of the nearly 27 million lb of carbon disulwas the substance released into the air in fide, the number four substance released by greatest quantity—72 milthe chemical industry went lion lb. This was followed by into the air. Some 25 million 30 million lb of methanol lb of chromium compounds Top 25 and nearly 27 million lb of ranked fifth, and most were Releases by chemical manufacturing facilities in 1999 carbon disulfide. disposed of on land. TOTAL RELEASES Overall, the chemical Among chemical facil{MILLIONS OF LB) COMPANY (FACILITY) LOCATION 1 Solutia 32.4 Gonzalez, Fla. industry ranked third ities, the largest source ofair 2 BASF Corp. 21.5 Freeport, Texas emissions was Lenzing among sectors that must 3 DuPont 21.1 Victoria, Texas Fibers of Lowland, Tenn., report releases to T R I . 15.0 4 Jayhawk Fine Chemicals Corp. Galena, Kan. according to EPA's data. N u m b e r one was metal 5 BP Chemicals U.7 Lima, Ohio Nearly all of this plant's mining, which accounted 14 million lb of air releases for more than half of the U.1 6 BP Chemicals (Green Lake] Port Lavaca, Texas consisted ofcarbon disulfide. 1999 T R I releases with 7 Cytec Industry (Fortier) 13.9 Westwego, La. The chemical industry nearly 4 billion lb, nearly all 8 Lenzing Fibers Corp. 13.9 Lowland, Tenn. 13.6 9 Elementis Chromium Corpus Christi, Texas ranked fifth in the amount of which were released to 10 Angus Chemical 10.5 Sterlington, La. of chemicals disposed of land. Electric utilities on land behind the metal placed second on the 1999 10.3 11 Monsanto Luling, La. mining, electric utility, TRI list with about 1.2 bil10.0 12 DuPont (Delisle) Pass Christian, Miss. primary metals, and hazlion lb of releases, more 9.6 13 Solutia (Chocolate Bayou) Alvin, Texas ardous waste handling/ than half of which were 9.1 U DuPont Beaumont, Texas solvent recovery sectors. hydrochloric acid aerosols 8.9 Castle Hayne, N.C. 15 Occidental Chemical Almost half of the chemifrom fossil fuel combustion. 8.8 cal industry's nearly 49 mil16 Sterling Chemicals Texas City, Texas This ranking could 8.8 17 Acordis Cellulosic Fibers Axis, Ala. lion lb of land releases were change for 2 0 0 0 T R I 18 Coastal Chemical 8.5 Cheyenne, Wyo. chromium compounds. reporting in the wake of a 7.5 19 FMC Pocatello, Idaho Elementis Chromium of recent court decision, says 7.3 20 Vicksburg Chemical Vicksburg, Miss. Corpus Christi, Texas, Lois N . Epstein, senior contributed 13 million lb engineer for Environmen6.7 Donaldsonville, La. 21 CF Industry of the chemical manufac6.3 22 Eastman Chemical Kingsport, Tenn. tal Defense. T h e mining turing total for land 5.5 23 Honeywell International Hopewell, Va. industry challenged its 5.0 24 IMC-Agrico (Faustina) Saint James, La. releases. inclusion in T R I , and, in 5.0 25 Lyondell Chemical Channelview, Texas The 1999TRI data are January a federal judge ruled available on the web at SOURCE: Environmental Protection Agency that mining facilities should http://wwwepa.gov/tri. • not file release reports. It 30
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