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EPA Gives Public Picture of U.S.V.I.'s Environmental Releases; Many New Industry Groups, Including Utilities, Report Toxic Releases for First Time – Data Show Improvements

Release Date: 05/11/2000
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(#00090) New York, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued its report on the 1998 releases of toxic chemicals into the U.S. Virgin Islands’ environment by industrial and other facilities. The information, which is compiled annually by EPA in a Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), is released to the public to help Americans know more about the chemicals present in their local environment and to ensure that, with the knowledge of the chemicals present at certain industrial facilities, communities are ready to handle emergency situations should they arise. The 1998 report features information on toxic releases from several new industry groups including coal and oil combusting electrical utilities and petroleum bulk plants and terminals. Without considering releases from newly added industries, toxic releases in the Virgin Islands of the over 600 chemicals and chemical categories currently tracked by TRI were down from approximately 1.43 million pounds in 1997 to 1.06 million pounds in 1998. Industries that were required to report for the first time in 1998 added another approximately 30,550 pounds to the 1998 toxic releases reported in the Virgin Islands. This new information does not suggest that the state of the environment in 1998 was worse than previous years. The addition of data from new facilities required to report simply gives EPA and the public a more accurate picture of the amount of toxic pollutants being emitted into the territory’s air, water and land than in years past. In the Virgin Islands, the additional 30,550 pounds of toxic releases reported were due in large part to the inclusion for the first time of electrical utilities and petroleum bulk storage facilities and terminals. "Every year that EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory program includes more information, the public benefits," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Regional Administrator. "The 1998 data for the Virgin Islands brings good news on two fronts. First, when using the same yardstick we have used since 1995, the environment in the territory received approximately 370,000 fewer pounds of toxic chemicals than it did in 1997. Second, the addition of an enormous amount of new information from industry provides the public with a better of idea of what is happening in their local environment, and puts a bright spotlight on the environmental records of these newly reporting industries. Over time, we expect to see the same decrease in toxic emissions from these newly reporting industries as we have seen from industries that have reported under the TRI program for the past ten years." When the Virgin Islands’ 1998 toxic release figures -- including figures from the new reporting industries – are compared to figures from 1988, the year the TRI program first began, a dramatic decrease in toxic releases can be seen. In 1988, companies were required to report releases of only 357 toxic chemicals and chemical categories – nearly half of those EPA requires companies to report today. Even so, the 1988 data shows that Virgin Islands facilities released 2.8 million pounds of those 357 toxic chemicals into the air, soil, and water that year – over two-and-a-half times the amount reported for twice as many chemicals and from more industries in 1998. As a response to the tragic chemical-release accident in Bhopal, India, Congress passed the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA) in 1986. EPCRA requires federal, state and local governments to have emergency plans in place to deal with potential chemical accidents or releases at certain facilities, and requires many industries and companies to file reports annually with the government about the toxic substances they emit into the environment. These reports are compiled into the national Toxic Release Inventory and made available to the public every year. Companies that have been required to file TRI data since the program began in 1988 include chemical, metals, plastics and paper manufacturers, petroleum refineries, and many other manufacturing industries. The seven new industry groups added for 1998 are: metal mining, coal mining, electrical utilities that combust coal and/or oil, hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities, chemical wholesale distributors, petroleum bulk plants and terminals, and solvent recovery services. The top five chemicals released into the environment by facilities in the Virgin Islands in 1998 were: Chemical Name Ethylene Propylene Xylene (Mixed Isomers) Phenol N-hexane Pounds Released On-site 281,433 211,401 120,915 63,909 55,802 Mostly released into the: Air - 100% Air - 100% Air - 99.99% Air - 98.3% Air -100% The five facilities in the Virgin Islands that filed 1998 TRI data are listed below, in descending order for toxic releases: HOVENSA L.L.C in Christiansted, St. Croix Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority Krum Bay Facility on St. Thomas Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority Estate Richmond Facility on St. Croix Esso St. Thomas Bulk Terminal on St. Thomas St. Thomas Bulk Terminal on St. Thomas More complete TRI information for the U.S. Virgin Islands is available online at https://www.epa.gov/tri/tri98 or by calling the TRI Hotline at 800-424-9346.