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EPA issues Utah toxic chemical release report for 2000

Release Date: 5/23/2002
Contact Information:
EPA 303-312-6447,

Release Date: 5/23/2002
Contact Information:
EPA 800-227-8917
Denver – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today issued its annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report, which details the amounts of toxic chemicals released into the air, discharged into water, placed underground or on the land, and disposed of as waste by facilities across the country. The data made available today are for releases that took place in 2000.

“We encourage people to use data from the Toxics Release Inventory to gain a better understanding of the amounts and types of chemical releases in their States and neighborhoods,” said EPA Regional Administrator Robbie Roberts. “The TRI report also serves as a strong incentive for businesses to find innovative ways to prevent pollution.”

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986 required EPA to establish the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The TRI is an on-line, computerized database that contains toxic chemical release information covering over 650 chemicals and chemical categories collected from reports submitted to EPA and the states by manufacturing companies, mines, electric utilities and Federal facilities. More than 23,000 facilities nationally provide details on their environmental releases. Included in the report is a ranking of U.S. states based on the amounts of toxic chemicals released into the environment within their borders. The database provides a comprehensive overview of toxic chemical releases in the U.S.

Facilities in Utah reported 954,311,188 pounds of toxic chemicals released on site during 2000, with 89 percent of the total from the new industry sectors which include metal mining, coal mining, electrical utilities, RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities, chemical distributors, petroleum terminals, and solvent recovery services. The annual fluctuations in on-site land releases by one individual metal mine account for the wide year-to-year changes in on-site releases in Utah.

On-site releases in 2000 were down 18 percent from 1999 following a major increase in 1999 from 1998. Utah ranked 2nd in the nation in 2000 as it did in 1999 in total on-site releases by manufacturers, Federal facilities and new industries. On-site releases by manufacturing and Federal facilities totaled 104,672,616 pounds in 2000, a significant increase of 27 percent from 1999 releases following a 16 percent decline in 1999 from 1998. Utah ranked 3rd in 2000 based for on-site releases from manufacturing and Federal facilities, up from its 5th ranking in 1999 and 4th ranking in 1998. (Please see the Utah 2000 TRI State Fact Sheet for more information.)

On-site releases of toxic chemicals in Utah (figures are in millions of pounds)

Manufacturing & Federal New Industries Reporting
Facilities (Original Industries) For The First Time in 1998
1998 1999 2000 1998 1999 2000

98.6 82.4 104.7 473.4 1,076.1 849.6

Information contained in the TRI is used by Federal, state and local governments, citizens and businesses to track the generation, release, fate and transport of various chemicals over time. Using this information, governments, businesses and citizens can work together to promote pollution prevention and to protect the quality of their land, air and water. Additionally, this knowledge can be an important tool in the development of environmental policies and to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental programs.

The 2000 TRI EPA national press release and press package are available online at https://www.epa.gov/tri. Additional background information on the TRI program and direct access to the TRI are available online at: https://www.epa.gov/triexplorer or https://www.epa.gov/enviro. For data-use assistance, contact the EPA Region 8 TRI Coordinator Joyel Dhieux at 303-312-6447 or via e-mail at dhieux.joyel@epa.gov. EPA also maintains a national technical hotline (800/535-0202) to help individuals and businesses understand TRI and the reporting requirements.