EPA flips off public, limits toxic release reporting
Despite overwhelming opposition from we the people, the EPA has moved ahead and reduced reporting requirements for polluters under the Toxic Release Inventory program. The move will make it that much harder for residents of the Hometown area and other communities impacted by corporate polluters to get information about what's being dumped in the air they breathe.
"EPA's actions take us back to the dark ages when the public knew nothing about toxic releases and when companies couldn't be held accountable for pollution that threatened public health," U.S. PIRG staff attorney Alex Fidis said in a news release. "EPA is substituting a don't ask, don't tell policy for a program that works to protect public health and the environment."
The new rule will allow companies to use or release four to 10 times more toxic chemicals before they are required to submit a report. It will also allow companies to withhold information about the use and production of dangerous persistent bioaccumulative toxics. EPA had planned to change the frequency of reports from once a year to once every two years but abandoned the proposal in response to public outcry.
The TRI program was established in 1988 as a response to the 1984 disaster in Bhopal, India, where a Union Carbide plant accidentally released 40 tons of deadly methyl isocyanate into the environment, killing more than 3,000 people outright and sickening at least 150,000 others. Shortly after the Bhopal incident, there was a serious chemical release at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in West Virginia, leading to the hospitalization of six workers and 135 local residents. Union Carbide is now owned by Dow Chemical, which has denied liability for the incident.
The Union Carbide disasters spurred U.S. public-interest and environmental organizations to demand information on toxic chemicals being released into communities. Their demands led Congress to pass the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, which created the TRI reporting program.
"EPA's actions take us back to the dark ages when the public knew nothing about toxic releases and when companies couldn't be held accountable for pollution that threatened public health," U.S. PIRG staff attorney Alex Fidis said in a news release. "EPA is substituting a don't ask, don't tell policy for a program that works to protect public health and the environment."
The new rule will allow companies to use or release four to 10 times more toxic chemicals before they are required to submit a report. It will also allow companies to withhold information about the use and production of dangerous persistent bioaccumulative toxics. EPA had planned to change the frequency of reports from once a year to once every two years but abandoned the proposal in response to public outcry.
The TRI program was established in 1988 as a response to the 1984 disaster in Bhopal, India, where a Union Carbide plant accidentally released 40 tons of deadly methyl isocyanate into the environment, killing more than 3,000 people outright and sickening at least 150,000 others. Shortly after the Bhopal incident, there was a serious chemical release at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in West Virginia, leading to the hospitalization of six workers and 135 local residents. Union Carbide is now owned by Dow Chemical, which has denied liability for the incident.
The Union Carbide disasters spurred U.S. public-interest and environmental organizations to demand information on toxic chemicals being released into communities. Their demands led Congress to pass the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, which created the TRI reporting program.
posted by Sue Sturgis at
1:11 PM
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