Community Right-to-Know About Toxics Under Attack
December 13, 2005
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For almost 20 years the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) has provided communities with vital information to monitor and reduce industry and other facilities’ release of toxic chemicals into the environment. Such information has been essential in protecting our and other species’ health, safety, and ecosystems. The EPA is now proposing to dramatically reduce such information.
More specifically, the EPA is proposing that companies (1) be required to report only every other year rather than annually, (2) be allowed to increase tenfold the amount of many toxics that can be released with only minimal reporting (i.e., listing only the chemical’s name), and (3) be permitted to report reduced information on low-level releases of Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs) such as mercury and lead.
Studies conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Working Group, and others show increasing levels of a large number of toxins in the bodies of babies, children, and adults. Such increases are correlated with serious health and developmental problems.
For additional information on the proposed reductions in TRI reporting, and to file a comment with the EPA, see the websites of the National Environmental Trust (net.org), OMB Watch (ombwatch.org), and Union of Concerned Scientists (ucsusa.org). Comments must be received by January 13, 2006.
[Editor: An expanded version of this article appears at the Common Dreams web site.]
Joseph Miller lives in Mishawaka, IN, and is the chairperson of the Dept. of Psychology at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN, 46556. He can be reached at jmiller@saintmarys.edu.St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN