What is the Toxics Release Inventory?
The Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI, is a collection of data that contains information about toxic chemicals that are manufactured or used by some, but definitely not all, facilities in the United States. This information is reported each year by the facilities to the states where they are located and to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The information is made available to the public through state environmental agencies and EPA. In Delaware, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) publishes TRI reports annually and provides public access to TRI data in an online searchable format. The reports and data are available online or in hard copy. The EPA publishes national TRI reports and the data is available on EPA’s web site.
Covered facilities primarily include manufacturing plants, oil and coal fired electric utilities and bulk petroleum terminals. Facilities submit information to DNREC and the EPA on the amount of each toxic chemical released to the environment and/or managed on-site and off-site as waste.
The public can get the EPA's TRI reporting information through EPA's new "e-FDR" website, which includes the EPA's latest TRI data for 2006.
The TRI program was established in 1986 to provide information to the public about the presence and release of toxic chemicals in their communities. It is part of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). The EPCRA Reporting Program maintains an electronic TRI database going back to 1995 that is updated as new reports are received. Data prior to 1995 and going back to the beginning of the TRI Program in 1987 are also maintained and can be provided by the TRI Program Coordinator. Most chemical releases reported under TRI are also regulated through federal and/or state permits.
What is a Toxic Chemical and What Chemicals are Reported?
A toxic chemical is one that meets any of several standards for serious or significant potential to harm human, fish or animal life or to be harmful to the environment. There are now 581 chemicals and an additional 30 chemical categories, such as mercury compounds, polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) and dioxin and dioxin-like compounds on the TRI chemical list. Of these chemicals and compounds, about 100 are currently reported in Delaware.
Who Must Report to the TRI Program?
Not every facility in Delaware reports to the TRI Program. There are three requirements a facility must meet before reporting is required.
- Only facilities that have 10 or more full time employees are required to report.
- A facility must be doing business as a manufacturer or processor, or generate electric power, or distribute bulk petroleum products. Federal facilities may also be required to report.
- A facility must manufacture or process one of the chemicals on the TRI list in quantities greater than a minimum threshold value. This value is generally 25,000 pounds for manufacturing and processing and 10,000 pounds for the “Otherwise Use” category. There are lower thresholds for certain chemicals known as Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs).
TRI Reporting of PBTs
The TRI reporting requirements were expanded in 2000 to provide focus on specific chemicals identified as persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT) substances. Several new substances identified as PBTs, including mercury and dioxins, were added to the list of reportable substances. In addition, threshold amounts that trigger reporting were substantially lowered in 2001 for some existing PBTs, including lead and lead compounds. Of the 70 reporting facilities for 2006, 26 reported on PBT substances, for a total 35,750 pounds of on-site PBT substance releases to the environment, up 10 percent from the 32,510 pounds reported in 2005. The primary reason for the increase is an increased reported amount sent to landfills as byproducts from the combustion of coal.
In conjunction with efforts to reduce mercury emissions, the Department developed, with the aid of a review committee, a new multi-pollutant regulation to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and mercury (Hg) emissions from Delaware's coal and residual oil fired electric generating power plants. The reduction in emissions will improve ambient air quality in Delaware and in downwind states, and help the state demonstrate progress toward attaining air quality standards for ground level ozone and other clean air federal obligations.
On-Site Releases to the Environment
For the 2006 calendar year, 70 facilities reported releases of the 100 different TRI chemicals in Delaware. Reported on-site releases to the environment were approximately 11.2 million pounds. Of this amount, approximately 6.3 million pounds were reported as released to the air, while 4.0 million pounds were released to water and 805,000 pounds were released to land. Onsite releases reported for 2006 were higher by 32 percent when compared to 2005.
Several factors impacted the increase in reported amounts of onsite releases in 2006: Premcor reported a significant increase in nitrate compounds released to water from its refinery in Delaware City as a result of improving its reporting accuracy by using new analytical data and improved methodology for estimating this release; the Perdue Georgetown poultry facility tested new methods for processing waste water in its treatment plant and also reported increased nitrate compound released to water; a third facility, the Edgemoor Conectiv Power plant, reported increased releases to air associated with the use of more coal. These changes, combined with the increases and decreases reported by facilities as part of their normal business cycles, resulted in the increase in the reported amount of on-site releases for 2006.
Total TRI Waste
Analysis of Delaware 2006 toxic waste data indicates that TRI-reported total toxic waste, including on-site releases, transfers off-site, and waste managed onsite, increased compared to 2005. The TRI-reported total waste amount for 2006, including on-site releases, transfers off-site, and waste managed on-site, was approximately 98.2 million pounds, a 1.7 percent increase from 96.6 million pounds reported for 2005. This is a 35.6 percent decline, or 54.2 million pounds, compared to the 152.4 million pounds reported for 1998. The 1998 year is typically used as a baseline because the TRI reporting requirements were significantly expanded that year, requiring more facilities to report.
Although reported onsite releases were up for 2006, waste amounts managed on-site increased less than 6,000 pounds compared to 2005. Waste amounts sent off-site for processing and disposal fell by over one million pounds, or 5.3 percent, chiefly influenced by amounts sent to recycle and to publically owned treatment plants. These variations are normal as facilities process and manage these wastes as part of their normal cycles of increasing and decreasing production for the products produced at the respective facilities.
National Perspective
To date (Feb. 15, 2008), EPA has not released the national 2006 TRI report. However, placing the 2006 Delaware reports alongside the 2005 EPA reports yields rankings that provide a national TRI perspective for Delaware. This data shows that Delaware ranks 40 in the nation in total on-site releases for all TRI chemicals. For on-site releases, 54 facilities in the nation each released more individually than all the facilities in Delaware combined. Changes in the 2006 national values may change these rankings.
For Further Information
The 2006 TRI data, as well as data from earlier years, is available in an easy-to-use, on-line searchable format at: http://www.serc.delaware.gov/services/search/index.shtml Copies of submittals from individual facilities are available upon request. Because the program reporting requirements change each year, comparison with prior years may not be valid without proper adjustments.
DNREC has published both technical and non-technical reports summarizing the 2006 TRI data. Reports for the 2006 data and previous years back to 1998 are available online at: http://www.serc.delaware.gov/reports.shtml
Who Can I Contact Directly for More Information About TRI?
John Parker
DAWM/DNREC
156 South State Street
Dover, Delaware 19901
(302) 739-9405
John.Parker@state.de.us
