Arizona Toxics Release Inventory Fact Sheet
May 2005
Arizona Report:
2003 Toxics
Release Inventory
U.S. EPA Region 9
Arizona, California,
Hawaii, Nevada, the
Pacific Islands, and
Tribal Nations
Toxic Chemical Releases: 2001 - 2003
Total On- and Off-Site
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2001 2002 2003
Reporting Year
Total On- and Off -Site Releases Excluding Metal
Mining and Primary Metal Industries
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2001 2002 2003
Reporting Year
Total Releases for Reporting Years 2001-2003
Year
2001
2002
2003
Air
4,590,374
4,128,261
4,669,577
Land
601,476,971
322,351,725
42,904,707
Under-
ground
Injection
0
2,184,988
0
Water
6,377
6,912
6,965
Off-Site
819,361
725,985
752,809
Total On- and Off-Site Releases from Metal Mining
and Primary Metal Industries
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2001 2002 2003
Reporting Year
The 2003 Public Data Release
EPA has made public the 2003 data on toxic chemicals
that were released to Arizona's air, water and land.
This information comes from the Toxics Release
Inventory (TRI), a federal community right-to-know
program. In Arizona, 288 facilities reported a total of
48.3 million pounds of toxic chemical releases*.
It is important to note that release should not be
directly equated with risk. To evaluate risk, release
data must be combined with information about
* 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. Year to year data comparisons do not reflect changes in reporting requirements.
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Arizona Toxics Release Inventory Fact Sheet
May 2005
chemical toxicity, site-specific conditions, and
exposure. In addition, this data does not indicate
whether a facility is violating environmental laws.
Many of the substances reported through this program
are subject to state and federal regulations designed to
protect human health and the environment.
Industries
A facility is subject to TRI reporting requirements if it:
has 10 or more full-time employees; is classified under
a reportable Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
code; and manufactures, processes, or otherwise uses
any of the listed toxic chemicals in amounts greater
than the threshold quantities. For most chemicals
(excluding persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT)
chemicals) the thresholds are 25,000 pounds for
manufactured or processed, and 10,000 pounds for
otherwise used.
Manufacturing industries have been reporting their
releases since 1987, and federal facilities started
reporting in 1994. In 1998, an additional seven
industry sectors began reporting their toxic chemical
releases for the first time. These sectors are metal and
coal mining, electricity generation, commercial
hazardous waste treatment, solvent recovery,
petroleum bulk terminals, and wholesale chemical
distributors.
Releases
On April 2, 2003 the District Court for the District of
Columbia issued a decision in Barrick Goldstrike
Mines, Inc. v. Whitman, (Civ. Action No. 99-958
(TPJ)), regarding the TRI reporting obligations of
mining facilities. The court determined that non-PBT
chemicals present in waste rock are eligible for the de
minimis exemption. The de minimis exemption states
that a facility is not required to consider the quantity of
a toxic chemical present in a mixture if it is below 1%
of the mixture, or 0.1% of the mixture in the case of a
toxic chemical which is a carcinogen. Prior to the
decision, mining facilities were required to consider all
concentrations of toxic chemicals in waste rock. This
decision may explain the large decrease in land
releases. EPA is currently providing compliance
assistance to these facilities in hopes of clarifying
reporting requirements for copper mines.
Many mines extract, move, store, process, and dispose
of large amounts of waste rock and ore — materials
which often contain low concentrations of naturally
occurring metals. The vast majority of this material is
placed in surface impoundments or on the land, and the
metals are reported as on-site releases to land. This
previously buried material is exposed to potential
leaching by rain, snow, and acid mine drainage, and
must be carefully managed and monitored to prevent
any surface water or ground-water contamination.
The copper mines are greatly responsible for the 85%
decrease from reporting year 2002 for on- and off-site
releases for the state. Ninety-nine percent of the
decrease in releases is accounted for by land releases.
Metal mining and primary metals facilities (facilities in
the 10 and 33 SIC codes) make up 76% of the total on-
and off-site releases and experienced an 89% decrease
in land releases.
Non-mining facilities reported increases in total on-
and off-site releases. In reporting year 2003, these
facilities reported a 3.6% increase in air (128,164
pounds). The largest increase in releases to air was
from Arizona Electric Power Cooperative Inc, whose
primary increases were of hydrogen fluoride,
hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid. There was a 9.5%
increase in land releases (640,684 pounds). The
majority of the increase can be attributed to increased
releases from electric generating facilities. In
reporting year 2003, Arizona saw a 10.1% increase in
water releases (565 pounds). This was primarily due
to 817 pounds of chlorine releases at the U.S. DOI
Bureau of Reclamation Yuma Area Office.
Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals
In the year 2000, TRI was expanded to include
additional persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT)
chemicals, and to require reporting for these chemicals
at lower thresholds, ranging from 0.1 grams to 100
pounds. PBT pollutants are toxic chemicals that
persist in the environment and bioaccumulate in food
chains, thus posing risks to human health and
ecosystems.
In Arizona, 5 million pounds of total on- and off-site
releases of PBT chemicals were reported. Below is a
table of the PBT releases in Arizona ranked by total
on- and off-site releases. The data is in pounds for all
chemicals except dioxin, which is given in grams.
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Arizona Toxics Release Inventory Fact Sheet
May 2005
Table of PBT Chemical Releases in Arizona
Chemical Name
Lead Compounds
Lead
Polychlorinated
Biphenyls
Mercury Compounds
Tetrabromobisphenol A
Mercury
Polycyclic Aromatic
Compounds
Benzo(g,h,i)perylene
Dioxin and Dioxin-Like
Compounds (in grams)
Grand Total
Total On- and Off-Site
Releases
2002
11,433,723.4
97,858.0
107,794.0
57,100.7
1,883.0
889.1
1,113.3
1.1
13.3
11,700,375.8
2003
4,750,186.5
130,497.8
83,520.0
8,716.5
3,833.0
942.6
724.2
1.2
40.4
4,978,462.11
Percent
Change
-58
33
-23
-85
104
6
-35
9
204
-57
Releases of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals in pounds.
Dioxin and dioxin-like compounds data not in Toxicity Equivalence (TEQ).
Overall releases of PBT chemicals decreased 57% in
2003 this is due to the large decreases in releases from
metal mining and primary metal facilities. Excluding
such facilities there was an 8.4% increase in releases of
PBT chemicals. Romic Environmental, a hazardous
waste treatment facility in Chandler, Arizona greatly
contributed to this increase, reporting a PBT for the
first time in reporting year 2003. They reported 70,273
pounds of on- and off-site releases of lead.
Lead and Lead Compounds
Starting in the year 2001, lead and lead compounds
were reported as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic
(PBT) chemicals. While lead and lead compounds
have been on the list of reportable chemicals since
1987, for the year 2001 the reporting threshold was
lowered from 25,000 pounds manufactured or
processed, and 10,000 pounds otherwise used to 100
pounds for the manufacture, process, or otherwise use
of lead and lead compounds. As a result, additional
facilities are required to report releases of lead and lead
compounds.
Approximately 4.9 million pounds of total on- and off-
site releases of lead and lead compounds were reported
in Arizona. Ninety-four percent of these releases are
land releases from metal mining and primary metal
facilities which experienced a decrease of 6.7 million
pounds. Excluding the metal mining and primary
metals facilities there was and increase of 46,813
pounds of lead and lead compounds releases. Romic
Environmental, a hazardous waste treatment facility in
Chandler, Arizona greatly contributed to this increase,
reporting 70,273 pounds of on- and off-site releases of
lead.
Mercury and Mercury Compounds
Total on- and off-site releases of mercury and mercury
compound decreased 83% from reporting year 2002.
A total of 9,659 pounds of on and off site releases were
reported, 50% of these were releases from the Phelps
Dodge Bagdad facility who reported 4,820 pounds of
releases. Excluding metal mining and primary metal
facilities there was a 57% increase in mercury and
mercury compounds, a total increase of 1,343 pounds
due primarily to the Clean Harbors Arizona Facility
LLC.
Top Facilities for Releases
The top 10 facilities for total on- and off-site releases,
for all chemicals, in Arizona are:
• • Phelps Dodge Miami Inc. (Claypool, Gila County)
with 13.6 million pounds.
• • ASARCO Inc. Ray Complex Hayden Smelter &
Concentrator (Hayden, Gila County) with 12.4
million pounds.
• • Phelps Dodge Morenci Inc. (Morenci, Greenlee
County) with 4.5 million pounds.
• • Tucson Electric Power Co Springerville Generating
Station (Springerville, Apache County) with 3.0
million pounds.
• • Phelps Dodge Sierrita Inc. (Green Valley, Pima
County) with 2.1 million pounds.
• • Navajo Generating Station (Page, Coconino
County) with 1.9 million pounds.
• • Cholla Power Plant (Joseph City, Navajo County)
with 1.5 million pounds.
• • Phelps Dodge Bagdad Inc. (Bagdad, Yavapai
County) with 1.2 million pounds.
• • Coronado Generating Station (Saint Johns, Apache
County) with 1.2 million pounds.
• • ASARCO Inc. Mission Complex (Sahuarita, Pima
County) with 1.1 million pounds.
The top 10 facilities for total on- and off-site releases,
of PBT chemicals, in Arizona are:
• • ASARCO Inc. Ray Complex Hayden Smelter &
Concentrator (Hayden, Gila County) with 1.3
million pounds.
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Arizona Toxics Release Inventory Fact Sheet
May 2005
Phelps Dodge Miami Inc. (Claypool, Gila County)
with 885 thousand pounds.
Phelps Dodge Sierrita Inc. (Green Valley, Pima
County) with 805 thousand pounds.
ASARCO Inc. Ray Operations Mine (Kearny,
Final County) with 762 thousand pounds.
ASARCO Inc. Mission Complex (Sahuarita, Pima
County) with 707 thousand pounds.
Phelps Dodge Bagdad Inc. (Bagdad, Yavapai
County) with 118 thousand pounds.
Romic Environmental Technologies Southwest
(Chandler, Maricopa County) with 70 thousand
pounds.
Earth Protection Services Inc. (Phoenix, Maricopa
County) with 65 thousand pounds.
Tucson Electric Power Co Springerville Generating
Station (Springerville, Apache County) with 55
thousand pounds.
Southwire Co. (Kingman, Mohave County) with 30
thousand pounds.
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 premier internet site for distributing
environmental information at:
http://www.epa.gov/enviro
or the TRI Explorer tool:
http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer
For general information on the Toxics Release
Inventory, including reporting requirements for
businesses, go to:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/tri
For more information on the EPA's PBT Chemicals
Program, go to:
http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pbt/
Information and Assistance
We are happy to answer your questions and assist you
in learning more about the TRI Program in Region 9.
U.S. EPA Region 9
Nancy Sockabasin, TRI Coordinator
(415) 972-3772
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