[Dialogue] Bush Plan To Hide Data on 1.5M Lbs. of Toxic Chemicals in California

[Harry Wainwright]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 17, 2006 11:03 AM

CONTACT: Environmental Working Group 
Bill Walker, EWG, (510) 444-0973, ext. 301
Tracy Fairchild, office of Sen. Jackie Speier, (916) 651-4008

 

Bush Plan To Hide Data on 1.5M Lbs. of Toxic Chemicals in California
State Legislation Would Protect Californians' Right to Know About Pollution
in Their Communities

 

SACRAMENTO - April 17 - A Bush Administration proposal to roll back
Americans' right to know about chemical hazards in their neighborhoods would
let California industries handle almost 1.5 million pounds of toxic
chemicals a year without telling the public, according to an investigation
of federal data by Environmental Working Group (EWG).

Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release
Inventory (TRI) program requires industrial facilities to report annually
the release, disposal, incineration, treatment or recycling of 500 pounds or
more of 650 chemicals covered by the law. But last fall the EPA proposed
sharply raising the reporting threshold so that only releases of 5,000
pounds or more would be reported, and reports would only be required every
other year.

"The right to know what hazardous chemicals are coming out of the smokestack
across the street from your child's school is essential," said EWG Vice
President Bill Walker. "The Administration's proposal makes it easier for
industries to pollute our communities with hazardous chemicals-in secret."

EWG's report, "Stolen Inventory," lists all facilities in California that
would be allowed to stop or cut back on reporting chemical releases, broken
down by county, city and chemical. It is available at www.ewg.org.

EPA will announce later this year whether it plans to adopt the proposed
rollback. But two California legislators, Sen. Jackie Speier of San
Francisco/San Mateo and Assembly member Ira Ruskin of Redwood City, have
introduced bills to establish a state-level TRI, to ensure that complete
reporting of toxic chemical releases would continue. Speier's bill (SB 1478)
will be heard at 1:30 p.m. today by the Senate Environmental Quality
Committee, and Ruskin's (AB 2490) will be heard at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday by the
Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.

"Californians' right to know about the dangerous chemicals to which they are
exposed is in jeopardy," said Speier. "Since 1988, the public's access to
information in the federal Toxics Release Inventory has given industry the
incentive to cut emissions-by 65 percent to date-and helped local
communities remove toxic manufacturing plants from their neighborhoods. We
must protect Californians' access to this powerful tool."

EWG's investigation found that the EPA rollback would deal a crippling blow
to Californians' access to information about toxic chemicals in their
communities:

*	The rollback would allow 384 industrial facilities to stop reporting
the use or release of 1,449,479 pounds of hazardous chemicals a year. In Los
Angeles County alone, 629,328 pounds of chemicals a year, from 160
facilities, would no longer be subject to reporting. 
*	The proposal would allow 101 facilities to stop reporting any use or
release of toxic chemicals. These facilities would be allowed to handle
249,433 pounds of toxic chemicals a year without public disclosure. In Los
Angeles County alone, 44 facilities that in 2003 handled 93,975 pounds of
chemicals would no longer be subject to reporting. 
*	Chemicals for which reporting would be slashed or curtailed are
among the most hazardous to human health. The rollback would end annual
reporting in California of more than 64,000 pounds of ethyl benzene, 62,000
pounds of styrene, almost 30,000 pounds of benzene and more than 56,000
pounds of chromium and chromium compounds-all known or suspected
carcinogens. 

Although facilities in 37 counties would be allowed to cut back or curtail
reporting, a study by Environment California and the National Environmental
Trust found that the rollback would hit Los Angeles particularly hard.
Communities in more than 90 zip codes in Los Angeles County would lose some
or all of the publicly reported pollution information about chemical
releases in their neighborhoods.

The EWG report is based on TRI figures from 2003. Just last week, the EPA
released the 2004 TRI, which showed an 18 percent overall decrease in toxic
releases in California. The EPA said the "TRI helps all of us-regulators,
emergency responders, businesses and communities-remain aware of the types
and amounts of chemicals being used"-even as they are considering the
proposal to roll back reporting requirements.

"Requiring facilities to report their pollution through the TRI program
creates an incentive for them to reduce their pollution," said Rachel
Gibson, Environment California staff attorney. "Without a strong TRI
program, the incentive is gone."

The TRI is the nation's premiere pollution reporting and citizens'
right-to-know program. The TRI is the only source of chemical-specific
information on industrial pollution at the facility level. It is an
essential source of information for public health officials, emergency
responders, planners, and a powerful tool for grassroots community groups
fighting pollution in their neighborhoods.

In Los Angeles, Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) used TRI data to
show that more than 80 percent of facilities that release toxic chemicals in
L.A. County were located in areas where a large majority of residents were
people of color. Three industrial recycling facilities relocated to
appropriately zoned areas, and the South Coast air quality district
guidelines to ensure that diverse community voices are heard in regulatory
decisions.

In Oakland, the Chester Street Block Club Association, Citizens for West
Oakland Revitalization and Greenaction used TRI data in a campaign against
Red Star Yeast, whose plant was emitting tens of thousands of pounds of
acetaldehyde, a carcinogen, into the neighborhood's air. The community
pressured authorities to fine Red Star for pollution violations and fought
against renewal of the plant's operating permit, prompting the company to
shut it down.

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