Mercury Report:
2005
Toxics Release Inventory
March 2007
U.S. EPA Region 9
Arizona, California,
Hawaii, Nevada, the
Pacific Islands, and
Tribal Nations
Table 1
Industries with Largest On-site and
Off-site Releases
Industry
Gold Mining
Refuse Systems
(RCRA Subtitle C
landfills)
Federal Facilities
Mercury (Pounds)
3,547,790
34,559
31,053
Total On-Site and Off-Site Releases of
Mercury (Pounds)
Arizona, 4,841-\
California,
65,619
Hawaii, 210
Nevada,
3,573,624
The 2005 Data for Mercury
EPA has made public the 2005 data on toxic chemicals
that were released to the air, water and land
within the Pacific Southwest Region.* This
information comes from the Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI), a federal community right-to-know program.
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 determining release quantities for metal compounds,
facilities only consider the primary metal portion of the
compound. For instance, a facility reporting for
mercury compounds only reports the mercury portion
of the mercury compounds released.
While mercury and mercury compounds have been on
the list of reportable chemicals since 1987, for the year
2000 the reporting threshold was significantly lowered
(from 25,000 pounds manufactured or processed, and
10,000 pounds otherwise used to 10 pounds
manufactured, processed, or otherwise used). As a
result, additional facilities are required to report
releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
* No adjustments were made to account for double counting that could occur as a result of off-site transfers of some TRI facilities also
being reported as on-site releases at permitted hazardous -waste landfills and other TRI facilities that receive the on-site transfers.
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Releases and Risk
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.
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
chemical toxicity, site-specific conditions, and
exposure. TRI chemicals vary widely in toxicity.
High volume releases may pose less environmental
risk than lower volume releases of highly toxic
chemicals. Increases in on-site releases at permitted
hazardous waste facilities may indicate a reduction in
risk. In addition, these data do 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 PBTs) the thresholds are 25,000 pounds for
manufacturing or processing, and 10,000 pounds for
otherwise using the toxic chemical.
Manufacturing industries have been reporting their
releases since 1987 and federal facilities started
reporting in 1994. In 1998, seven additional 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
As shown in Table 2, there was an overall 9% (367
thousand pounds) decrease in on-site and off-site
releases for the year 2005.
Table 2
On-Site and Off-Site Releases*
Release
Media
Air
Land
Water
Undg Inj **
Off-Site
Total
Reporting Year
2004
11,564
3,977,372
6.4
2.9
22,440
4,011,385
2005
9,818
3,581,838
6.6
7.7
52,624
3,644,295
Percent
Change
-15%
-10%
+3%
+166%
+135%
-9%
* * Underground Injection
* Year to year data comparisons do not reflect
changes in reporting requirements.
The decrease in total releases is mostly attributable to
land releases at three Nevada gold mines. Total
releases at Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc. decreased
more than 280 thousand pounds, Newmont Mining
Corp Carlin South Area decreased its releases by
nearly 126 thousand pounds, and Newmont Mining
Corp Lone Tree Mine had decrease of 94 thousand
pounds. A large decrease in air releases came from the
Lehigh Southwest Cement Co. facility in Tehachapi,
California. Air releases from this facility decreased by
approximately 72%, more than 1,800 pounds.
Two California facilities were largely responsible for
the overall increase in off-site releases. The U.S. Navy
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake increased off-
site releases by nearly 19 thousand pounds, a 150%
increase. Clean Harbors San Jose LLC had a 400%
increase in off-site releases, nearly 16 thousand
pounds.
The 2005 TRI data show that in a state-by-state
comparison Nevada, California, Arizona and Hawaii
ranked nationally 1, 4, 27, and 48 respectively for total
releases of mercury. Nevada ranked number 1,
reporting 3,573,624 pounds of on-site and off-site
releases of mercury. No mercury releases were
reported in Region 9's Pacific Island Territories. Table
3 gives the total pounds of mercury reported in Region
9 by state.
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Table 3
Mercury Releases (in pounds) by State
State
Arizona
California
Hawaii
Nevada
Air
1,874
2,961
132
4,850
Land
2,665
10,571
0
3,568,602
Under
Ground
Injection
0
0.1
7.1
0.5
Water
0
2.5
4.0
0.1
Off-Site
302
52,084
67
171
2005 Data for Reporting Industry Sectors
A review of the TRI data shows that nearly 97% of
mercury releases in the Region comes from the gold
mining industry. The other 3% can be attributed to a
variety of other industries, including: hazardous waste
facilities and federal facilities. A detailed summary of
releases by industry sector is provided in Table 4.
Table 4
Mercury Releases (in pounds) by Industry Sector
Industry
Gold
Mining
Refuse
Systems
(RCRA
Subtitle C)
Federal
Facilities
Silver
Mining
Hydraulic
Cement
Electric
Services
Copper
Mining
Petroleum
Refining
Air
4,702
2
21
8
2,381
1,973
79
499
Land
3,542,956
14,403
0
20,163
872
1,110
1,596
1
Water
0.39
0
0
0
0
0.08
0.00
6.12
Off-Site
131
20,154
31,032
0
0
38
2
863
Gold Mining
In the Pacific Southwest Region, 16 gold mines
reported over 3.5 million pounds of total mercury
releases, most of which were released on-site to land.
Mercury may be processed as a trace constituent in
metal ores or recovered as a by-product from gold
ores.
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, therefore it must
be carefully managed and monitored to prevent any
surface water or groundwater contamination.
There are also air releases from ore processing and
metal refining operations. For air releases of mercury,
gold mines reported a total of 4,702 pounds.
Hazardous Waste Disposal
Land disposal of 14,403 pounds of mercury were
reported to be released into permitted landfills.
Hazardous waste disposal facilities also reported 2
pounds of air releases.
Federal Facilities
One federal facility had zero releases to land, water,
and underground injection. This facility did report 21
pounds release to the air, and 31,032 pounds of off-site
transfers of mercury.
Silver Mining
In Region 9, one silver mine reported 20,171 pounds of
total mercury releases. These silver mines reported
20,163 pounds of these releases as land releases. Air
releases from these facilities were reported as 8
pounds. These facilities had no mercury releases to
water or underground injection.
Cement Manufacturing
Mercury may be processed or otherwise used as a trace
element in raw materials and fuels in the manufacture
of hydraulic cement. These facilities reported 2,381
pounds of releases to the air, and 872 pounds of on-site
land releases.
Electricity Generation
Only facilities that burn coal or oil to generate
electricity commercially are required to report to the
Toxics Release Inventory Program. Mercury
compounds may be formed during the combustion
process. These facilities reported 1,973 pounds of air
releases and 1,110 pounds of land releases.
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Copper Mining
There are four copper mines in Region 9 reporting
releases of mercury. Those four mines reported 79
pounds for air releases and 1,596 pounds of land
releases.
Petroleum Refineries
Mercury may be processed or otherwise used as trace
components in crude oil. Air releases totaling 499
pounds were reporting by these facilities.
Table 5 shows the top ten counties in Region 9 with
the highest on-site releases of mercury.
Table 5
Counties Releasing Largest Quantities of On-Site
Releases in 2005
County
Elko, NV
Humboldt,NV
Eureka,NV
Lander, NV
White Pine, NV
Pershing, NV
Kings, CA
Nye, NV
San Bernardino, CA
Apache, AZ
Pounds Released
2,189,480
977,251
188,709
140,841
49,670
20,177
9,394
6,935
1,476
1,458
Table 6 shows the ten facilities in Region 9 with the
highest total releases of mercury.
Table 6
Facilities Releasing Largest Quantities of Chemicals
Facility Name
Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc.
Newmont Mining Corp Twin
Creeks Mine
Newmont Mining Corp Carlin
South Area
Cortez Gold Mines
Newmont Mining Corp Lone
Tree Mine
Glands Marigold Mining Co.
Jerrit Canyon Mine
Bald Mountain Mine
U.S. Navy Naval Air Weapons
Station China Lake
Coeur Rochester Inc
City, State
Elko, NV
Golconda, NV
Carlin, NV
Crescent Valley,
NV
Valmy,NV
Valmy, NV
Elko, NV
Elko, NV
China Lake, CA
Lovelock, NV
Pounds
Released
2,117,745
770,592
172,821
140,841
115,002
88,616
71,209
49,670
31,053
20,171
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
Region 9 staff will answer questions and assist you in
learning more about the TRI Program in Region 9.
U.S. EPA Region 9, TRI Program
Nancy Sockabasin, (415) 972-3772
Mariela Lopez, (415) 972-3771
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