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EPA Issues Annual Report on Chemicals Released to Land, Air and Water in the U.S. Virgin Islands Decrease of 83 Percent Found

Release Date: 02/04/2014
Contact Information: John Martin, (212) 637-3662, [email protected]

(New York, N.Y) The annual U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report on the amount of toxic chemicals released to the land, air and water by industrial facilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2012 showed a decrease of 83 percent over the past year. The Toxics Release Inventory report issued today by the EPA covers four U.S. Virgin Islands facilities that are required to report their releases – the Saint Thomas Bulk Terminal at Cyril King Airport in St Thomas, two facilities operated by the U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) and the HOVENSA petroleum refinery. Total reported releases to land, air and water by these facilities decreased from about 1.8 million pounds in 2011 to 0.3 million pounds. Much of the decrease from 2011 was due to the shutdown of the HOVENSA refinery. Presently, HOVENSA is operating as an oil terminal.

“The Toxics Release Inventory allows the public and policymakers to better understand the pollutants released into our air, water and land each year," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "This powerful tool helps people better understand pollution problems in their communities and take action to protect their health and the environment."

Since 1988, Toxic Release Inventory data has been provided to the public annually to help people learn more about the chemicals present in their local environment and gauge environmental trends over time. The inventory contains the most comprehensive information about chemicals released into the environment reported annually by certain industries and federal facilities. Most of these facilities have permits issued under federal regulations that set strict limits on the amount of chemicals that they are allowed to release into the air, water or land. Many are required to install and maintain pollution controls.

Facilities must report their toxic chemical releases by July 1 of each year. The EPA made a preliminary set of data for 2012 available on July 26, 2013. Nationally, over 20,000 facilities reported on approximately 682 chemicals and chemical categories for calendar year 2012.

For program overview, visit: http://epa.gov/tri/

To view the U.S. Virgin Island’s TRI fact sheet, visit: http://epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and Facebook at http://facebook.com/eparegion2.

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