Toxic-Free Communities News

Exposure to dangerous toxic pollution from industrial facilities threatens communities in North Carolina and across the country, according to a new report released today by NCPIRG.

The report, Toxic Pollution and Health, uses information from the federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) to analyze toxic pollution linked to serious health problems such as cancer, birth defects or neurological damage. Due to a recent EPA action restricting the public’s right-to-know, today’s report may provide one of the last complete pictures of toxic pollution in North Carolina.

In 2004, North Carolina ranked 2nd in the country for total air releases of toxic pollution suspected to cause respiratory illness. The largest source of this pollution came from the Duke Energy Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County, which released more than 13 million pounds of respiratory toxicants to the air.

“This report confirms that communities across North Carolina are routinely put at risk by toxic pollution linked to serious health impacts,” said NCPIRG advocate Rob Thompson. “These toxic pollutants are the worst of the worst and pose tangible threats to public health that must be addressed.”

The federal Toxic Release Inventory is a public right-to-know program that requires industrial facilities to publicly disclose their toxic releases. In 2004, EPA reported that the TRI has helped to reduce toxic pollution by 57% nationwide since its inception in 1988. Despite this success, the EPA recently weakened the program by authorizing industrial facilities to withhold previously reported pollution information.

“To address the potential health threats from toxic pollution, we need full information about what toxics are being released, where, and in what amounts,” said Thompson. “Unfortunately, EPA’s attack on the public’s right-to-know means that North Carolina communities will be left in the dark about toxic pollution.”

Representatives Pallone (D-NJ) and Solis (D-CA) and Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Boxer (D-CA) recently challenged EPA’s rollbacks by introducing the Toxic Right-to-Know Protection Act (H.R. 1055 and S. 595). This legislation would reverse the rollbacks to restore the lost data and ensure that communities have full and complete access to toxic pollution information.

To view a full copy of the report, please click here. 

Toxic-Pollution-and-Health.March-2007.pdf