News Releases from Region 08
EPA publishes 2019 Annual Toxics Release Inventory Report and Analysis
DENVER – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its 2019 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis, which shows that EPA and companies that manage chemicals continue to make progress in preventing pollution. The publicly available report shows that total releases of TRI chemicals decreased by 9 percent from 2018 to 2019.
For the first time in five years, industrial and federal facilities reported an increased number of new source reduction activities that aim to reduce or eliminate the amount of chemical-containing waste facilities create. Facilities also avoided releasing 89 percent of the chemical-containing waste they created and managed during 2019 into the environment by using preferred practices such as recycling, treatment, and energy recovery.
In Region 8, metal mines drive the quantity of TRI chemical waste released and reported to the EPA. During 2019, metal mines in the region disposed of 95 percent of their TRI chemical waste on site to land, primarily in the form of waste rock. Despite this, quantities of TRI chemical waste managed in the region decreased by 11 percent from 2018 to 2019. For 2019, 53 percent of total disposal or other releases reported in Region 8 was from the metal mining sector, down from 64 percent in 2018. Quantities of TRI chemicals released to water and transferred off site for disposal decreased, and releases to air and land increased. For 2019, 5 percent of facilities in Region 8 (35 facilities) reported implementing new source reduction activities.
The TRI program also provides state fact sheets for reporting years 2003-2019. In addition, users can create fact sheets for specific chemicals, industries, and geographic units. If the links below take time to load, you may also visit: https://enviro.epa.gov/triexplorer/tri_release.chemical
2019 TRI EPA Region 8 Fact Sheet
2019 TRI North Dakota Fact Sheet
2019 TRI South Dakota Fact Sheet
The 2019 TRI National Analysis released today reflects TRI chemical waste management activities, including releases, that occurred during calendar year 2019 and therefore does not indicate any potential impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency that began in the United States in early 2020.
Background
Thanks to the passage of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, which helped create EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory program, Americans now have greater awareness of how chemicals are being managed in their communities. Today, nearly 22,000 facilities report annually on the use and quantities of more than 760 chemicals they release to the environment or otherwise manage as waste to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program. EPA, states, and tribes receive TRI data from facilities in industry sectors such as manufacturing, mining, electric utilities, and commercial hazardous waste management. The Pollution Prevention Act also requires facilities to submit information on pollution prevention and other waste management activities of TRI chemicals.
To access the 2019 TRI National Analysis, including local data and analyses, visit www.epa.gov/trinationalanalysis.
Information on facility efforts to reduce TRI chemical releases is available at www.epa.gov/tri/p2.