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HAWAII COMPANIES REDUCE THEIR 1999 TOXIC RELEASES BY 29 PERCENT

Release Date: 4/12/2001
Contact Information: Contact: Mike Ardito, (415) 744-2328

     SAN FRANCISCO -- Industries in Hawaii reduced the amount of toxic chemicals released into the air, land and water by 29 percent in 1999, according to new data released today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
     
The data comes from the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory, an annual measure of toxic chemical releases, transfers, and waste generated by facilities in the United States.  
     
The 1999 data shows that Hawaii facilities have reduced  toxic chemical releases from 3.6 million pounds in 1998 to 2.6 million pounds in 1999.  Total  releases include toxic chemicals discharged to air, water, underground injection, land (including landfills), and the amount transferred off-site for disposal.

     Nationally, there has been a chemical emissions decrease of 46 percent in manufacturing industries   about 1.5 billion pounds   over the 12-year history of the program.

     "Thanks to strong regulations and improved environmental practices by business and industry, we continue to see a downward trend in the amount of pollutants entering Hawaii's air and waterways," said Enrique Manzanilla, director of the EPA's Cross Media Division in San Francisco.  "We encourage people to use data from the Toxics Release Inventory in order to gain a better understanding of what's being emitted in their neighborhoods."    

     Since 1987, manufacturing facilities have been reporting their releases of 650 toxic chemicals and chemical categories under this program.  This marks the second year that seven new industrial categories, including petroleum bulk stations and electric utilities, were required to report.

     In Hawaii, total on- and off-site releases from manufacturing industries decreased by 8 percent since 1998, to 436 thousand pounds.  Total releases from the electric utility industry decreased by 33 percent to 2.1 million pounds, and releases from petroleum bulk terminals increased by 3 percent, to 58 thousand pounds.

     The following is a list of the top facilities for total on- and off-site releases in  Hawaii.


Kahe Generating Station
Waianae, Honolulu
852,000 pounds of releases

Waiau Generating Station
Pearl City, Honolulu
337,000 pounds

Hawaii Electric Light Co., Hill Generating Station
Hilo, Hawaii
280,000 pounds

Kahului Generating Station
Kahului, Maui
230,000 pounds

Chevron Prods. Co. - Hawaii Refy.
Kapolei, Honolulu
162,000 pounds

Hawaii Electric Light Co., Puna Generating Station
Keaau, Hawaii
36,000 pounds

Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp.
Kapolei, Honolulu
93,000 pounds

AES Hawaii
Kapolei, Honolulu
82,000 pounds

Tesoro Hawaii
Kapolei, Honolulu
79,000 pounds

Hawaii Electric Light Co., Shipman Generating Station
Hilo, Hawaii
67,000 pounds

 
    The reporting of data to the Toxics Release Inventory is required under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, passed in 1986. This program has been credited with arming communities with valuable knowledge and encouraging facilities to reduce their releases of toxic chemicals into the environment through source reduction, or pollution prevention measures.

     Fact sheets and additional information on the 1999 TRI data for Hawaii will be available today on the Web at https://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/tri .  Direct access to the TRI data is available on-line at https://www.epa.gov/triexplorer and https://www.epa.gov/enviro .