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Large drop in toxic chemicals released in NMI in 2013
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a reported a decrease in the amount of toxic chemicals released in the CNMI in 2013.
According to its annual Toxic Release Inventory released last week, 15,370 lbs of toxic chemicals were released in the NMI in 2013, about a 64,000-lb decrease from the amount released in 2012.
The NMI had the second least amount of total releases per square mile out of 56 states and territories nationwide.
The NMI had 79,469 lbs of on- and off-site releases in 2012, according to the EPA report.
The agency defines a “release” of a chemical as one that is emitted to the air or water, placed in some type of land disposal, or transferred off-site for disposal or release.
No off-site releases were reported for both years.
In 2013, chemicals released into the air totaled 15,256 lbs, compared to 67,994 lbs in 2012. Sulfuric acid comprised 73 percent of this amount. The year before, the acid made up 89 percent of this.
In 2013, chemicals released to land amounted to 102 lbs, compared to 96 lbs in 2012. A total of 26 lbs were underground injections, compared to 46 lbs the year before.
The rest of the releases were into landfills, surface impoundments, or what was labeled as “other.”
For water, chemicals released amounted to 12 lbs, compared to 340 lbs the year before.
For 2013, chemicals released into the air, land, and water include sulfuric acid, polycyclic aromatic compounds, toluene, xylene (mixed isomers), zinc compounds, napthalene, ethylbenzene, and mercury, among others.
Eight facilities in the CNMI reported some release. The top three were the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., Marianas Acquisition Corp., and Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc.
CUC’s Industry Sector 2211 – Electrical Utilities was highlighted as the largest contributor to on-site releases, at 12,440 lbs in 2013.
The same sector released 65,123 lbs of on-site chemicals in 2012.
For both years, the facility did not report pollution prevention activity during year, according to the agency’s factsheet.
The 79,469 lbs of toxic chemical releases in 2012 was an increase over 2011’s 3,224 lbs, mainly due to four new facilities reporting TRI data, according to EPA.
