Tiny Toxic Releases Must Now Be Reported - persistant, long lasting toxins

[Joseph R Parrish Jr <JoeParrish@compuserve.com>]

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/nov99/1999L-11-01-06.html

Tiny Toxic Releases Must Now Be Reported</b></font><P>
<b>By Cat Lazaroff</b><p>
WASHINGTON DC, November 1, 1999 (ENS) - U.S. companies will soon have to
publicly disclose the release of even small amounts of persistant, long
lasting toxins into the air or water. President Bill Clinton announced
Saturday that the U.S. will tighten reporting rules on toxins like dioxin,
which can accumulate in the environment so that even small releases can
lead to serious health and environmental problems."
<meta name="author" content="Hart Consulting Web and Engineering Studio,
Mountain View California, www.hartcons.com">

<b>WASHINGTON DC,</b> November 1, 1999 (ENS) - U.S. companies will soon
have to publicly disclose the release of even small amounts of persistant,
long lasting toxins into the air or water. President Bill Clinton announced
Saturday that the U.S. will tighten reporting rules on toxins like dioxin,
which can accumulate in the environment so that even small releases can
lead to serious health and environmental problems.
<p>
As of January 1, 2000, companies that use even small amounts of 27
chemicals known as persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs) must report
their air and water discharges to the public. PBTs are chemicals that do
not break down readily. They can build up in the environment and may be
passed up through the food chain to large predators - and humans.
<p>
<IMG SRC="../../ens/pics6/clinton.jpg" ALT="clinton" ALIGN=right HSPACE=5
VSPACE=5 WIDTH=147
HEIGHT=177><H5>President Bill Clinton is calling for significantly stricter
reporting requirements for toxic chemicals <small>(Photo courtesy the White
House)</small></H5>
The regulations, which will be implemented by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), provide the first reporting requirements for
dioxin, a toxic byproduct of waste incineration and chemical and pesticide
manufacturing. Dioxin has been linked to cancer and birth defects, and was
an ingredient of the defoliant Agent Orange.
<p>
"We're acting to protect families against some of the most dangerous
chemicals ever known - including mercury, dioxin and PCBs," said Clinton in
his weekly radio address to the nation. "These chemicals are troubling for
two reasons. First, they don't break down easily; instead they build up in
the environment, and in our bodies. Second, many of them heighten the risk
of cancer or other illness, even at very low doses." 
<p>
Under current rules, companies that handle more than 25,000 pounds or use
more than 10,000 pounds of toxic chemicals a year are required to publicly
report discharges into the environment. The new rules will require reports
from companies that use at least 100 pounds a year of any of the 27 listed
substances. 
<p>
For some particularly toxic chemicals, the reporting threshold is set as
low as 10 pounds a year. For dioxin, firms that produce as little as a
tenth of a gram of the byproduct each year must report potentially
dangerous discharges.
<p>
<IMG SRC="../../ens/pics8/toxicsediment.jpg" ALT="toxic sediment"
ALIGN=left HSPACE=5 VSPACE=5 WIDTH=271
HEIGHT=170><H5>Dioxin and other toxins can build up in river sediments,
like these below a wood mill on Keene Creek in Minnesota <small>(Photo by
Pat Collins, courtesy Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources)</small></H5>
Kip Howlett, executive director of the Chlorine Council, a member of the
Chemical Manufacturers Association, said the required reports are likely to
unnecessarily alarm the public, because the rule does not require industry
to disclose the toxicity of releases, just the amount.
<p>
"We certainly support the public’s right to know and to have meaningful
information," Howlett told ENS. "So we are extremely disappointed that this
rule doesn’t provide meaningful information to the public."
<p>
The new EPA rules specify that pollutant discharges by reported according
to the total solid weight of the discharge - not according to the toxicity
of the substance. That, according to Howlett, means the public will have
access to "information which from a public standpoint is meaningless."
<p>
"This is a formula for scaring the public," Howlett said.
<p>
Clinton pointed out that public perception can bring pressure to bear on
industry to reduce pollution. Industrial toxic pollution has fallen by
almost 50 percent in the decades since public right to know rules for
chemical releases took effect, Clinton noted.
<p>
<IMG SRC="../../ens/pics8/herringgull.jpg" ALT="herring gull" ALIGN=right
HSPACE=5 VSPACE=5 WIDTH=250
HEIGHT=202><H5>Animals near the top of the food chain, like this herring
gull, can accumulate high levels of toxic chemicals by eating contaminated
fish <small>(Photo courtesy National Park Service)</small></H5>
"By requiring industries to tell communities how much they pollute the air
and water, we empower citizens to fight back and create a powerful
incentive for industry to pollute less," said Clinton. "By posting this
information for all to see, we can speed the day when families no longer
need worry about hidden dangers in the air they breathe and the water they
drink." 
<p>
Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope called the new rules "a major step
in assuring Americans of a clean, healthy environment." 
<p>
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) called the rules a
"momentous step" toward closing a "major loophole" in the federal right to
know program. In a November 1998 report, US PIRG found that at least 90
percent of PBT pollution goes unreported because current rules set
reporting thresholds too high. Lowering the thresholds, and adding dioxin,
"one of the most toxic substances known to science," to the reporting list,
will provide significant new protections, the group said in a release. 
<p>
But US PIRG also said the rules do not go far enough, allowing a
"significant amount of pollution to go unreported." The rules do not cover
lead, which the EPA is attempting to cover under other regulations. So far,
the EPA’s lead rules have been blocked twice by industry opposition. 
<p>
In addition, US PIRG said the proposed reporting thresholds for polycyclic
aromatic compounds, found in a variety of industrial products and wastes,
have been set 10 times higher than the threshold for other chemicals the
group says pose comparable dangers.
                            Environment News Service
(ENS)</a> 1999. All Rights Reserved.