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ARIZONA COMPANIES REDUCE THEIR 1999 TOXIC RELEASES BY 10 PERCENT; MINING PROVISION GIVES STATE COUNTRY'S THIRD HIGHEST NUMBERS

Release Date: 4/12/2001
Contact Information: Lisa Fasano, (415) 744-1587

     SAN FRANCISCO -- Industries in Arizona reduced the amount of toxic chemicals released into the air, land and water by 10 percent in 1999, according to new data released today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
 
      The data comes from the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory, an annual measure of toxic chemical releases, transfers and waste generated by facilities in the United States.  

     The 1999 data shows that Arizona facilities have reduced toxic chemical releases from 1.07 billion pounds in 1998 to 963 million pounds in 1999.  Total  releases include toxic chemicals discharged to air, water, underground injection, land (including landfills), and the amount transferred off-site for disposal.  Arizona has the country's third highest release numbers because of a 1998 provision that requires mining facilities to report releases from waste rock.

     Nationally, there has been a chemical emissions decrease of 46 percent in manufacturing industries   about 1.5 billion pounds   over the 12-year history of the program.

     "Thanks to strong regulations and improved environmental practices by business and industry, we continue to see a downward trend in the amount of pollutants entering Arizona's air and waterways," said Enrique Manzanilla, director of the EPA's Cross Media Division in San Francisco.  "We encourage people to use data from the Toxics Release Inventory in order to gain a better understanding of what's being emitted in their neighborhoods."    

     Since 1987, manufacturing facilities have been reporting their releases of 650 toxic chemicals and chemical categories under this program.  This marks the second year that seven new industrial categories, including metal mining and electric utilities, were required to report.

     In Arizona, total on- and off-site releases from manufacturing industries decreased by 6 percent since 1998, to 50.9 million pounds.  Total releases from electric utilities decreased by 22 percent to 7.5 million pounds, and releases from the metal miners decreased by 10 percent, to 904 million pounds.

     The following is a list of  the top facilities for total on- and off-site releases in Arizona in the manufacturing, metal mining and electricity generating sectors.


Manufacturing Industries:

Asarco Inc. Ray Complex/Hayden Smelter/Concentrator, Hayden:
46 million pounds

BHP Copper, San Manuel Smelting & Refining, San Manuel:
1.1 million pounds

MGC Pure Chemicals America, Mesa:
275,000 pounds      

Sea Ray Boats Inc., Phoenix:
274,000 pounds

Abitibi Consolidated (Snowflake Division), Snowflake:
21,000 pounds
   

Metal Mining Industry:

Asarco Inc. Mission Complex, Sahuarita:
233.6 million pounds

Phelps Dodge Miami Inc., Claypool:
207.1 million pounds


Phelps Dodge Morenci Inc., Morenci:
126.4 million pounds
                                                             
Phelps Dodge Bagdad Inc., Bagdad:
105.5 million pounds

Asarco Inc., Kearny:
105.2 million pounds Ray Complex/Ray Ops. Mine


     Metal mines extract, move, store, process, and dispose of large amounts of waste rock and ore -- materials that often contain low concentrations of naturally occurring metals.  The vast majority of this material is placed in surface impoundments or on the land, and the metals are reported as on-site releases to land.


Electricity Generating Industry:
                                           
Navajo Generating Station, Page:
2.5 million pounds

Springerville Generating Station, Springerville:
1.7 million pounds

Coronado Generating Station, Saint Johns:
1.6 million pounds

Cholla Power Plant, Joseph City:
1.1 million pounds

Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Cochise:
438,000 pounds
   

     The reporting of data to the Toxics Release Inventory is required under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, passed in 1986. This program has been credited with arming communities with valuable knowledge and encouraging facilities to reduce their releases of toxic chemicals into the environment through source reduction, or pollution prevention measures.
     
Fact sheets, TRI data and additional information on the 1999 TRI data for Nevada are available at https://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/tri/report .