Toxics Release Inventory Update
California Mexico Border
Reporting Years 2005-2007
U.S. EPA Region 9: California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, and Tribal Nations
The EPA made public the 2007 data on the toxic
chemicals that were released to the air, water, and
land of California's Border region.* This report pro-
vides data from the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
for the facilities in California that are located within
100 kilometers (using 126 zip code areas) of the
U.S./Mexico Border.
What is a Release?
A TRI "release" is defined as the amount of a toxic
chemical released on-site (to air, water, underground
injection, landfills, and other land disposal), and
the amount transferred off-site for disposal.
Releases and Health Effects
It is important to note that releases should not be
directly equated with risk. To evaluate risk, release
data must be combined with information about
chemical toxicity, site-specific conditions, and
exposure. In addition, this data does not indicate
whether or not a facility is violating environmental
laws. Many of the substances reported through this
program are subject to state and federal regula-
tions designed to protect human health and the
environment.
Who is Reporting?
A facility is subject to TRI reporting requirements if
it has 10 or more full-time employee equivalents
(20,000 work hours per year); is classified under a
reportable North American Industrial Classification
System (NAICS) Code; and manufactures, process-
es, or otherwise uses any of the TRI chemicals in
amounts above established threshold amounts. For
most chemicals the thresholds are 25,000 pounds
for "manufactured" or "processed", and 10,000
pounds for "otherwise used."
Chemical Releases
Total (on-site and off-site) TRI chemical releases
reported in the California Mexico Border Region
during the past three years are displayed in the
chart below:**
Total On-Site and Off-Site Releases
u- K
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Trends in Releases
In 2007, 76 facilities in the Border area of Califor-
nia reported releases of approximately 6.4 million
pounds of toxic chemicals to the TRI Program. The
following chart tracks releases to the environment
for reporting years 2005 through 2007.
Total Releases for Reporting Years 2005 - 2007
Year
2005
2006
2007
Air
1,055,737
787,248
447,774
Water
330,660
301,628
34
On-Site Land
409,590
850,742
4,244,576
Underground
Injection
0
34,877
0
Off-Site
950,707
1,187,627
1,717,877
Largest Releases by Industry Type
During 2007, five industries account for 97% of the
total 6.4 million pounds of reported releases in the
Border area of California. They are as follows:
Industry
Gold Mining
Misc. Manufacturing
National Security
Ship Building and Repairing
Lab Instrument Manufacturing
Total Release
(pounds)
3,896,855
1,638,260
408,647
230,056
63,447
Percentage of
Total Releases
61%
26%
6%
4%
1%
Largest Releases by Chemical Type
The top five chemicals released in the California
Border area in 2007, ranked by total on-site and
off-site releases, are as follows:
Chemical Name
LEADS LEAD COMPOUNDS
N.N-DIMETHYLFORMAMIDE
COPPER
2-METHOXYETHANOL
N-BUTYL ALCOHOL
Total Release
(pounds)
4,040,226
1,506,204
209,475
97,255
96,261
Percentage of
Total Releases
63%
23%
3%
2%
2%
Facilities Releasing Largest Quantities
of Chemicals
Ten facilities, listed in descending order, released
the largest total on-site and off-site releases in the
Border area of California:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Facility Name
Western Mesquite Mines
Inc.
GE Osmonics
General Dynamics
(Nassco)
U.S. Marine Corps Mcb
Camp Pendleton
U.S. Marine Corps
Chocolate Mountains
Aerial Gunnery Range
Illumina, Inc
U.S. Navy Naval
Air Station North Island
U.S. Marine Corps Air
Station Miramar
Dynegy South Bay Lie
Rohr Inc (Dba. Goodrich
Aerostructures Group)
City Name
Brawley
Vista
San Diego
Camp Pendleton
Niland
San Diego
San Diego
San Diego
Chula Vista
Chula Vista
Total Releases
(pounds)
3,896,855 (99% lead
compounds releases)
1,638,260 (92% n,n
dimethylformamide releases)
230,056 (40% 1,2,4,
trimethylbenzene and 42% n-
butyl alcohol releases)
189,774 (54% copper
releases)
137,506 (65% copper
releases)
63,447 (89% acetonitrile
releases)
43,430(39% sodium
dime thyldithiocarbama te
releases)
25,606 (70% lead releases)
22,604 (100% ammonia
releases)
22,032 ( 64% chromium
compounds)
On-line Access
For national information on data releases, see:
http://www.epa.gov/tri
The TRI data is available through Envirofacts
Warehouse, EPA's internet site for distributing
environmental information at:
http://www.epa.gov/enviro
Or the TRI Explorer tool:
http://www.epa.gov/triexDlorer
U.S. EPA Region 9 TRI Program
Mariela Lopez (415) 972-3771
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