EPA: NMI’s toxic releases second lowest nationwide

The CNMI ranks second lowest among the 56 U.S. states and territories in total toxic chemical releases, according to the 2007 nationwide toxics release inventory data released yesterday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

American Samoa reported the least amount of toxic releases, totaling only 4.8 pounds, from Star-Kist Samoa.

The CNMI came in second lowest with 6,448 lbs of toxic chemicals released into the air, land and water in 2007.

These toxic releases came from Hawaiian Rock Products Saipan, Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc./Saipan Aviation Terminal, and Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc./Saipan Terminal.

“The Toxic Release Inventory program arms communities with powerful information. The inventory is a tremendous tool to help protect public health and the environment. Safe communities depend on well-informed citizens,” Laura Yoshii, acting USEPA administrator for the Pacific Southwest region, said in a statement.

Compared to the previous year, the CNMI’s toxic releases dropped by 5 percent in 2007.

Contributing to this decline were the lack of any releases to the water or to underground injection, a less than 1 lb increase in land releases, and an 11 percent or 576 lbs drop in air releases. Shell Marianas did not report to the inventory this year, causing a decrease in releases, said the USEPA. CNMI Division of Environmental Quality director Frank Rabauliman could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Guam ranked fourth lowest with 250,236 lbs in total toxic releases.

In a separate statement, the EPA said Guam’s toxic releases increased by 21 percent compared to 2006. The largest increase of 59 percent was of water releases. This 45,000-lb increase in chemical releases to water was reported by the U.S. Navy COMNAVMARIANAS Guam Main Base at Apra Harbor.

The USEPA’s Toxics Release Inventory, commonly referred to as TRI, is one of the USEPA’s largest publicly available databases, arming communities with valuable information on more than 650 toxic chemicals released by various industries.

The chemical information in the inventory is calculated by industrial facilities and reported to the USEPA as required by law.

Annual Toxic Release Inventory reporting began in 1987, providing information on annual toxic chemical releases reported by certain industrial and federal facilities. The TRI does not include data on toxic emissions from cars and trucks, nor from the majority of non-industrial sources, such as agriculture.

In 2000, the inventory expanded to include persistent bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, or PBTs, at ranges from 0.1 grams to 100 pounds. PBT pollutants are toxic chemicals that remain in the environment and food chain, posing risks to human health and ecosystems

On a national level, there was a 5 percent decrease in total disposal or other releases into the environment nationwide from 2006 to 2007.