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 Delaware 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 the EPA's website.
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 which 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 90 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).
For more information, see the Delaware Toxics Release Inventory Reporting page at: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/SERC/Services/Pages/ToxicsReleaseInventoryReporting.aspx
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 61 reporting facilities for 2010, 26 reported on 11 PBT substances for a total amount of 8,949 pounds of PBT substances released on-site to the environment. This is down from the 20,112 pounds reported in 2009. Lower reported amounts from the Indian River Power Plant were largely responsible for the decrease. These PBTs were sent to the facility’s on-site landfill in 2010.
On-Site Releases to the Environment
For the 2010 calendar year, 61 facilities reported releases of 79 different TRI chemicals in Delaware. Reported on-site releases to the environment were approximately 4.3 million pounds. Of this amount, approximately 3.5 million pounds were reported as released to the air, while 600,000 pounds were released to water and 210,700 pounds were released to land. For the TRI chemicals released to the air, 76 percent were from hydrochloric acid releases, largely from oil and coal-fired power plants. Total on-site releases reported for 2010 were lower by 19 percent (991,000 pounds) when compared to 2009. Most of the reduction was because the refining operations at Delaware City Refinery were shut down during 2010, and from reductions in acid gasses from the Calpine Edge Moor/Hay Road Power Plant and Invista Seaford facilities because they converted from coal to natural gas.
Pollution Control
In conjunction with efforts to reduce mercury emissions, DNREC, with the aid of a review committee, developed 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 is improving ambient air quality in Delaware and in downwind states, and helping the state demonstrate progress toward attaining air quality standards for ground level ozone and other clean air federal obligations.
Total TRI Waste
On-site releases and on-site waste management reported reductions of 19% and 31% respectively, compared to 2009, while transfers off-site for treatment or disposal showed an increase of 18%. Analysis of Delaware 2010 toxic waste data shows that the amount of TRI-reported total toxic waste was approximately 58.1 million pounds, a 23% decrease from 75.0 million pounds reported for 2009. This is also a 62% decline, or 94.3 million pounds, compared to the 152.4 million pounds reported for 1998. The 1998 year is used as a baseline because the TRI reporting requirements were significantly expanded that year, requiring more facilities to begin reporting to the TRI program.
Waste amounts sent off-site for processing and disposal increased by 2.0 million pounds in 2010, largely the result of increased disposal of manganese compounds form DuPont Edge Moor and zinc compounds sent to recycle by Evraz Claymont Steel. Other variations were reported as part of normal cycles of increasing and decreasing production and finding better ways to manage the waste products created at the respective facilities.
National Perspective:
As of the date Delaware’s TRI inventory was released, EPA had also released some national 2010 TRI data. Placing the 2010 Delaware report alongside the 2010 EPA reports provides a national TRI perspective for the state. This data shows that Delaware ranks 44th of the 50 states in total on-site releases for all TRI chemicals.
This is one list where it is preferable for Delaware to rank near the bottom, In fact, for on-site releases, 94 individual facilities in the nation each released more TRI chemicals on-site than the combined sum of all releases from all TRI facilities in Delaware.
Public Collaborative Forum on Toxics
Under a recent five-year cooperative agreement, ECOS and U.S. EPA have developed a new public collaborative forum at www.ChemicalRight2Know.org. Users of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data are now able to visit the website to vet their analyses, share success stories and best practices, and collaborate on solving community chemical-related problems. The main mission of the forum is to provide one-stop access for those in and out of government seeking non-federal information on TRI and other environmental data, analyses, and trends.
For more information
The latest TRI data, as well as data from earlier years back to 1995, is available in an easy-to-use, on-line searchable format at: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/SERC/Services/Pages/DataSearch.aspx. Data from individual facilities is 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 latest TRI data. Reports for the latest data and previous years back to 1998 are available online at: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/SERC/Pages/Reports.aspx.
Who can I contact directly for more information about TRI?
John Parker
Division of Air & Waste Management
655 South Bay Rd., Suite 5N
Dover, Delaware 19901
(302) 739-9405
email: John.Parker@state.de.us
