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NEWS RELEASE
May 11, 2005
Contacts:
Mike Zucker, Utah Division of Environmental Response and Remediation, (801) 536-4143
Renette Anderson, Utah DEQ Public Affairs, (801) 536-4478
(Salt Lake City, Utah) -Chemical releases to Utah’s air and water continued to significantly decrease while releases to land increased in 2003, according to the Utah Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) 2003 Data Summary compiled by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). These releases are allowed under various environmental permits as a result of industrial operations.
“We are very encouraged by these decreases of chemical releases to Utah’s air and water,” said Brad Johnson, director of DEQ’s Division of Environmental Response and Remediation.
The most notable decrease is the amount of chemical releases to the air. Utah’s releases to the air decreased 51 percent from 18.5 million pounds in 2002 to 9.1 million pounds in 2003. This is the lowest total release to air for Utah in the 17-year history of the TRI program. The reduction is primarily due to a decrease in chlorine emissions from U.S. Magnesium.
Releases to surface water decreased nearly 10 percent from 63,000 pounds in 2002 to 57,000 pounds in 2003. The total consists almost entirely of nitrate compounds released from Chevron Products Company to the Great Salt Lake. Kennecott Utah Copper facilities reported releases of various metals to the Great Salt Lake.
Chemical releases to the land increased about 49 percent from 154.5 million pounds in 2002 to 229.7 million pounds in 2003. Activities in Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon mine, including a rise in the amount of ore rock mined and mining in an area that contained a higher concentration of lead, contributed to the increase. Additionally, a decrease in copper recovery from Kennecott’s facilities resulted in an increase of copper in the waste stream. Of the total releases to land in Utah, Kennecott Utah Copper facilities reported 89 percent in the form of copper, lead, zinc, manganese, chromium, arsenic and other metal compounds, including naturally occurring metals in waste rock, which is excavated and moved during mining operations.
The TRI is an annual report used to inform citizens, industries and government regulators about wastes generated in Utah. Data are gathered at year’s end and compiled the following year. The report may be used to evaluate potential hazards to public health or the environment. TRI data can be used to provide basic information on the types and volumes of waste and emissions at a facility, but the data must be used with other concentration, migration, environmental targets and exposure information to assess a level of human health or environmental risk.
A total of 189 Utah facilities filed TRI reports for 124 TRI-listed chemicals and chemical categories. Approximately 64 percent of these facilities are located in Weber, Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties.
The TRI report is available on DEQ’s Web site at www.superfund.utah.gov/serc/trihome.htm.
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