# EPA Releases 2010 Toxics Release Inventory National Analysis

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2012/01/epa-releases-2010-toxics-release-inventory-national-analysis/
- Published: 2012-01-07T04:27:32-05:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

Source: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The EPA released its annual national analysis of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI),
providing all Americans with vital information about their communities. The TRI 
program publishes information on toxic chemical disposals and other releases into
the air, land and water, as well as information on waste management and pollution
prevention activities in neighborhoods across the country. Total releases including
disposals for the latest reporting year, 2010, are higher than the previous two 
years but lower than 2007 and prior year totals. Many of the releases from TRI facilities
are regulated under various EPA programs and requirements designed to limit human
and environmental harm.

_**“We will continue to put accessible, meaningful information in the hands of the
American people. Widespread public access to environmental information is fundamental
to the work EPA does every day,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “TRI is
a cornerstone of EPA’s community-right-to-know programs and has played a significant
role in protecting people’s health and the environment by providing communities 
with valuable information on toxic chemical releases.”**_

Citizens have a right to know what toxic chemicals are being released into their
communities. Over the past 25 years, the TRI program has helped citizens, emergency
planners, public health officials, and others protect human health and the environment
by providing them with toxic chemical release and other waste management data they
need to make decisions that affect the safety and welfare of their communities.

The 2010 TRI data show that 3.93 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released
into the environment nationwide, a 16 percent increase from 2009. The increase is
mainly due to changes in the metal mining sector, which typically involves large
facilities handling large volumes of material. In this sector, even a small change
in the chemical composition of the ore being mined — which EPA understands is one
of the reasons for the increase in total reported releases — may lead to big changes
in the amount of toxic chemicals reported nationally. Several other sectors also
reported increases in toxic releases in 2010, including the chemical and primary
metals industries.

Total air releases decreased 6 percent since 2009, continuing a trend seen over 
the past several years. Releases into surface water increased 9 percent and releases
into land increased 28 percent since 2009, again due primarily to the metal mining
sector.

EPA has improved this year’s TRI national analysis report by adding new information
on facility efforts to reduce pollution and by considering whether economic factors
could have affected the TRI data. With this report and EPA’s Web-based TRI tools,
citizens can access information about the toxic chemical releases into the air, 
water, and land that occur locally. Finally, EPA’s first mobile application for 
accessing TRI data, myRTK, is now available in Spanish, as are expanded Spanish 
translations of national analysis documents and Web pages.

TRI data is submitted annually to EPA and states by multiple industry sectors including
manufacturing, metal mining, electric utilities, and commercial hazardous waste 
facilities. Facilities must report their toxic chemical releases to EPA under the
federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) by July 1st of
each year. The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 also requires information on waste
management activities related to TRI chemicals.

More on the 2010 TRI analysis and TRI Web-based tools: [http://www.epa.gov/tri](https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program)

More on myRTK: [http://www.epa.gov/tri/myrtk/](http://www.epa.gov/tri/myrtk/)

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 greenlivingguy

 The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman is an independent power producer, a green living
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