Toxic Chemical Report

Twelfth Annual Toxic Chemical Report

A summary of information contained in the Toxic Chemical Report Forms for calendar year 1998

The full report is an Adobe Acrobat PDF document. You will need the free Acrobat Reader software, available from Adobe's web site, to view it. Full Report (78 pages, 1.1M)

Preface

Seven new industrial categories were required to submit toxic chemical release reports for calendar year 1998. As a result, much new information is now available about specific chemicals that are released to the environment. These reports are a significant addition to the base of information which is available to the public and to government agencies in Illinois charged with the responsibility of protecting the environment and public health. The reports submitted by facilities in the new industrial categories totalled 70.5 million pounds, which is 35 percent of the 202.5 million pounds reported by all facilities.

The long term downward trend of environmental releases in Illinois continues. Not including the new industrial categories for 1998, facility reports indicate a 44 percent decrease in toxic chemical releases from 1988 to 1998, and a decrease of 9 percent from 1997 to 1998.

All toxic release information will be continually examined and analyzed by the Illinois EPA to identify industrial categories, facilities, chemicals and geographic areas which should receive focused attention with the objective of release reduction, especially through pollution prevention efforts.

Tom Skinner, Director

Executive Summary

Nearly 2,300 unique facilities have reported toxic chemical release information to the Illinois EPA since the reporting program mandated by federal law began in 1987. Not including 1987, an average of 1,300 facilities have reported each year, with the actual number ranging between 1,105 and 1,398.

Facilities in seven new industrial categories were required to report for the first time for 1998. They are coal mining, metal ining, electricity generation (limited to coal and/or oil fired power plants), hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities, bulk petroleum plants and terminals, chemical wholesale and solvent recycling. Illinois facilities in all seven of the new categories submitted reports.

For calendar year 1998, 1,322 facilities submitted 4,814 individual toxic chemical release reports showing a total of 204.4 million pounds of releases and transfers. Of this total, 70.5 million pounds were reported by the new industrial categories. Zinc compounds had the highest reported releases and transfers, at 48.8 million pounds. The combined total of fugitive and stack air emissions topped all other environmental areas at 91 million pounds. Facilities in Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code 4911 (Electric Services - coal and/or oil fired power plants), a new industrial category for 1998, exceeded all other industrial categories with reported releases and transfers of 38.6 million pounds.

Duplicate reporting is possible for 1998. Facilities report offsite transfers for treatment or disposal to hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities, a new industrial category. These hazardous waste facilities, in turn, report on site disposal of the same toxic chemicals, meaning the environmental releases are sometimes reported twice. Due to the difficulty of analyzing data for the hazardous waste facilities, especially those outside of Illinois, the extent of duplicate reporting is very difficult to determine and cannot be accurately presented in this report.

In order to perform meaningful trend analyses of total toxic chemical releases, including offsite transfers, the Illinois EPA utilizes information reported by facilities for toxic chemicals which have been reportable in the same form for each of the years 1988-1998. This approach is called “normalizing”. Offsite transfers for recycle or energy recovery, reportable for 1991 and later years, are not considered.

Total “normalized” releases and transfers have decreased 44 percent from 1988 to 1998. The toxic chemical with the greatest quantity reduction in that period was toluene (17 million pounds, or 78 percent), which is a teratogen, reproductive toxin and fetal toxin. Facilities in the SIC category 2821 (Plastic Materials, Synthetic Resins and Nonvulcanizable Elastomers) as a group had the greatest quantity reduction (8.3 million pounds, or 57 percent).

The toxic chemical with the greatest amount of releases from 1994 through 1998 was zinc compounds, totalling 135.7 million pounds. Considering only those toxic chemicals with significant human health effects, i.e. which are known or probable human carcinogens, teratogens, fetal toxicants and/or reproductive toxicants, manganese compounds had the highest total of 40.7 million pounds.

The group of facilities in SIC Code 3312 reported 171.7 million pounds of releases from 1994 through 1998, the greatest for any industrial category, and also had the highest total of 48.7 million pounds in the period for those toxic chemicals with significant human health effects.

Facilities located in ZIP Code 61832 in Danville (Vermilion County) reported the highest total of air emissions from 1994 through 1998, totalling 19.6 million pounds. Considering only those toxic chemicals with significant human health effects, facilities located in ZIP Code 61832 also reported the highest total of 19.6 million pounds.