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EPA Issues New Toxics Report -- Some States Make Progress in Decreasing Emissions

Release Date: 4/11/2001
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released its annual report on the amount of toxic emissions released throughout the country. The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 1999 shows continued good news with decreases in emissions in several areas. Region 6 states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas are ranked as follows.


     Arkansas remains ranked 33rd (41.5 million pounds) for total releases (on and off-site) for all industries compared to 1998 (40.7 million). Arkansas moved from a rank of 33 (35.3 million pounds) to 32 (36. million pounds) in total on-site releases. Total releases reported by all Arkansas facilities for 1999 have increased by 1.9 percent. This increase appears to be due to a 2.4 percent increase in air and a 17 percent increase in land releases.

     Louisiana has moved from its rank of 10 for total releases (160.8 million pounds) in 1998 to 12 (150.1 million pounds). Total releases reported by all Louisiana facilities in 1999 have decreased by 6.6 percent since 1998. This overall decrease is due to a drop of 8.6 percent in air emissions, along with a 6.6 percent increase in surface water discharges and an 8.8 percent decrease in underground injection. On-site releases for Louisiana moved from a rank of 8 (158.5 million pounds) to a rank of 10 (146.9 million pounds), a decrease of 7.3 percent.
 
     New Mexico remains ranked 7 for total releases (264.4 million pounds in 1998 and 262.3 million pounds in 1999) and moved up to 6 (260.1 million pounds) from 7 (258.8 million pounds) in on-site releases. Total releases have dropped by 0.8 percent since 1998. On-site land releases (258.2 million pounds) accounted for 99.3 percent of all releases.

     Oklahoma decreased in rank from 31 (40.4 million pounds) in 1998 to 34 (37.0 million pounds) for total releases in 1999. Oklahoma moved from 32 (35.4 million pounds) to 33 (32.9 million pounds) for on-site releases. Surface water discharges decreased 65 percent from 1998, from 2.3 million pounds to 0.8 million pounds, while air emissions decreased 8.9 percent from 20.1 million pounds to 18.3 million pounds.

     Texas remains ranked fifth at 313.9 million pounds in 1999 verses 321.4 million pounds in 1998 for total releases. In 1999 Texas had a 2.3 percent drop in total releases primarily due to a decrease in air releases from 1998 of 8.4 percent (120.9 to 110.8 million pounds). Texas remains fifth (288.2 million pounds) for on-site releases compared to 1998 (288.0 million pounds).

     Total releases include releases that happen on facility property and off-site waste management.

     The 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act requires industrial facilities to report publicly quantities of toxic chemicals that their facilities annually release into the air, water and land.  EPA analyzes the submitted data. Overall, the TRI includes information on releases and other wastes for 644 toxic chemicals and chemical compounds. There were no additions of chemicals or industry sectors in the TRI reporting for 1999.

     EPA's interactive web site allows the public to sort and view data by facility, chemical, geographic area, industry, and at the state or national level.

     The 1999 Toxics Release Inventory data and background information on the TRI program are available at: www.epa.gov/tri