"The magnitude of this problem far exceeds our worst fears" 1985 Congressional estimates of industries emitting "80 million pounds" of airborne toxins a year were [..] sharply criticized as inflated by industry spokesmen. "Now we see that chemical industry releases [alone] are fully 10 times as high. [Based on '87 data] U.S. industries release more than 2.4 billion pounds of toxic pollutants into the air each year - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --> [Send the 1-line message GET TOXICAIR EMISSION ACTIV-L to] [LISTSERV@UMCVMB.BITNET for a copy of this file. ] --> [Send GET ACTIV-L ARCHIVE ACTIV-L to above address for a ] [listing with brief descriptions of other files available] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [**Be sure to see "Addendum: Surprise, surprise" for a 1991 update**] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ============================================== "Illinois ranks 8th in toxic emissions levels" ============================================== by Nathaniel Sheppard Jr, Chicago Tribune, March 23, 1989 "Of the 320 toxic chemicals included in the inventory, the EPA has regulated only seven of them after some 20 years of study" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WASHINGTON -- U.S. industries release more than 2.4 billion pounds of toxic pollutants into the air each year, raising concern among scientists and environmentalists over the level of public exposure to substances that can contribute to cancer, respiratory problems and birth defects. The largest single source of airborne toxins is the chemical industry, which reported releasing more than 886 million pounds of toxins in 1987, according to a Toxic Release Inventory compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that was released Wednesday. [..] The survey was ordered by Congress in 1986 after a chemical leak at a Union Carbide facility in Bhopal, India, killed more than 3,000 people late in 1984. Although based on industry estimates, the inventory is the most comprehensive look to date at the magnitude of U.S. toxic air emissions. [...] More than 320 chemicals are included in the inventory, including 60 substances listed as carcinogens, or cancer producers, by the U.S. Public Health Service. The EPA concluded in a 1986 report that airborne toxins cause more than 2,000 cancer cases each year. After the chemical industry, the primary metals and paper industries were the next largest sources of airborne pollutants, with each reporting emissions of more than 207 million pounds a year. ****************************************************************** Toxic pollution How states rank in million of pounds of chemicals emitted in 1987 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Texas 230 Louisiana 135 Tennessee 132 Virginia 131 Ohio 122 Michigan 106 Indiana 103 Illinois 103 Georgia 94 North Carolina 92 [Chicago Tribune Graphic; Source: U.S. E.P.A.] ------------------------------------------------------------------ Texas was judged to have the most toxic emissions [..] while the Great Lakes region was cited as the area in which residents faced the highest concentrations of air pollution. Illinois industries emit more than 103 million pounds of toxins into the atmosphere each year, well ahead of New York and California, which have chronic smog problems. Illinois has long failed to meet federal air quality standards. `The magnitude of this problem far exceeds our worst fears,' said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, which made details of the inventory public. The California Democrat said the reported level of industrial emissions is much higher than 1985 estimates from his subcommittee. That report estimated that industries were emitting 80 million pounds of airborne toxins a year. `This figure was widely reported and was sharply criticized as inflated by industry spokesmen. Now we see that chemical industry releases [alone] are fully 10 times as high,' Waxman said. [..] `A study by the Royal Society of Canada and the U.S. National Research Council concluded that people living in the Great Lakes region are exposed to more toxic chemicals than any other comparable segment in North America,' [Rep Gerry] Sikorski [D., Minn.] said. `PCBs [polychlorinated bi-phenyls] and other contaminants throughout the Great Lakes have rendered close to 30 species of fish unsafe for consumption by children and women of child-baring age. Airborne sources are the single largest contributors of new PCBs to the Great Lakes,' he said. And the EPA survey may well underestimate the level of airborne emissions. It is based on industry estimates rather than recorded observation and does not include toxic substances that are released into surface water or soil and then evaporate into the air supply. Nor does the inventory include emissions from smaller sources, such as gas stations or dry cleaners. `Of the 320 toxic chemicals included in the inventory, the EPA has regulated only seven of them after some 20 years of study,' said Rep. James Florio (D., N.J.). `IF EPA continues at that rate, it will take over 900 years for the agency to set standards for the pollutants listed in the report.' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [According to the EPA's separate, annual air quality report, which tracked five pollutants 1978-1987 and through 1988 for ozone], "ozone levels increased 5% between 1986 and 1987 and jumped a further 14% in 1988 [..] Ozone is the chief ingredient of smog, which plagues many urban areas. [...]" ################################################################## ======================================================= A d d e n d u m : S u r p r i s e , s u r p r i s e ======================================================= May 18, 1991 - USA Today: TOXIC EMISSIONS: ------------------------- ---------------- [...] Industries have cut toxic chemical emissions polluting the USA's air, land and water by 18% in three years. The 1989 numbers for the EPA's annual inventory of industrial emissions were released Thursday. The inventory shows 22,650 plants released 5.7 billion pounds of toxic chemicals, down from 7 billion in 1987. Texas firms polluted the most, North Dakota the least. Translating from USA Today Doublespeak, then, there was between 1987 and 1989 an *increase*, not decrease, and not by 18% but by over *137%*, from the "FAR exceeding our worst fears" level of 2.4 billion pounds, as then estimated for 1987 (a level also 30 times higher than the 80 million pounds "sharply criticed as inflated" by industry); but, we've revised 1987 to 7 billion pounds -- 875 times, or 87,500 per-cent higher, than the 80 million level "sharply criticized as inflated by industry" -- so there is now an 18 per-cent improvement we can report, down to a measly 5.7 billion pounds of toxics per year (at today's estimates of the 1989 level, that is), so the population can rest assured that thigns are looking brighter and not be alarmed. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Posted by:] Date: Tue, 21 May 91 19:49:59 -0400 From: aj912@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Maurice Maschke III) Subject: News Listing - 05/21/91 - Toxic Wastes ... Pollution! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ################################################################## "Chicago commuters [working at the `Loop'] are exposed to [the equivalent of] two packs of cigarettes per day" --Earth Day '90 literature. ################################################################## ============================================= California smog leaves trees, hikers gasping By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times ============================================= [Chicago Sun-Times, summer/fall '90 article] Trees in California's Yosemite National Park are feeling the scourge of smog, and hikers in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks soon may be warned that the air there is unhealthful to breathe. [...] The smog comes primarily from the rapidly developing San Joaquin Valley in central California, where weather and geography [note the complete omission of words like "industries" -Ed.] combine to give it the potential of one day outranking smog-ridden Los Angeles. Ozone, the most prevalent and hazardous component of smog, is ravaging trees both in Yosemite and Sequoia [...] Ozone damages lung tissue and can cause shortness of breath. Diane Ewell, air quality specialist at Sequoia, said ozone levels exceed state health standards an average of 46 days each summer at lower elevations in Sequoia and Kings Canyon and an average of 16 days at the higher elevations. [...] Smog levels at Sequoia exceeded higher federal ozone standards for two days in 1987 and 10 days in 1982, she said. Despite the pollution, hikers at Sequoia and Kings Canyon do not complain about smog. Ozone is invisible, and many hikers confuse its effects, such as shortness of breath, with the effects of higher elevations, Ewell said. Smog levels tend to be lower in Yosemite than in Sequoia and Kings Canyon. `Yosemite is further away from the source [note omission again], and we are in the foothills and more exposed,' Ewell said. ############################################################### # Harel Barzilai for Activists Mailing List (AML) # ################################################################ { For more info about ACTIV-L or PeaceNet's brochure send } { inquiries to harel@dartmouth.edu / mathrich@umcvmb.bitnet } To join AML, just send the 1-line message "SUB ACTIV-L " to: LISTSERV@UMCVMB.BITNET; you should receive a confirmation message within 2 days. Alternate address: LISTSERV@UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU Qs/problems: Rich Winkel, MATHRICH@UMCVMB.["MISSOURI.EDU" or "BITNET"]