Legal Loopholes Allow Industry to Hide Hazardous Chemical Releases

The Berkeley Pit, a former open-pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, is now a 'toxic tourist attraction.' (photo: extremeall.com)

By Jennifer Krill, Earth Island Journal

07 January 12

Yesterday (Jan 5) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its complete analysis of the most recent Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. The data gives citizens information about toxic releases into air, water and land by mining companies and industrial facilities in and around their communities

The EPA analysis - of data released in October 2011 - indicates, as usual, that the metal mining industry is the nation's largest toxic polluter, responsible for 41 percent of all reported toxics in 2010, or 1.6 billion pounds. This has been the case ever since the metal mining industry was required to report its toxic releases in 1997. The industry accounts for the vast majority of toxic heavy metals and metalloids released such as:

• arsenic (96% / 280 million pounds)
• mercury (92% of mercury / 4.4 million pounds)
• lead (86% / 538 million pounds)

But perhaps the most significant toxics releases by our mines and oil and gas companies are those not included in the TRI.

As the EPA analysis explains, the metal mining industry successfully sued to exclude from the inventory most toxics in waste rock. Consequently, beginning with the 2002 reporting year, more than one third of the metal mining industry's toxics - which are still released into the environment every year - go unreported.  READ MORE