Communities arid Ecosystem Division
Toxics Office
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
866-EPA-WEST • www.epa.gov/region9
Serving Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands and 148 Tribes
x>EPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Pacific Southwest/Region 9
Toxics Release Inventory
2011 Nevada Report
Nevada's Releases
125 Nevada facilities reported a total of 529 mil-
lion pounds of toxic chemical releases during 2011.
Nevada's total reported on-site and off-site releases
in-creased 41% (153 million pounds), when com-
pared to 2010 data.
What is a Release?
A TRI "release" is defined by the Federal report-
ing law as the amount of a toxic chemical released
on-site (to air, water, underground injection, land-
fills, and other land disposal), and the amount
transferred off-site for disposal; it is measured in
pounds, unless stated otherwise.
Total Releases for Reporting Years 2009 - 2011
Year
Air
Water
On-Site
Land
Under-
ground
Injection
Off-Site
Total
Releases
2009
1,667,845
972
242,626,990
0
1,608,368
245,904,175
2010
1,524,353
1,294,535
372,020,176
0
1,926,957
376,766,019
2011
1,358,295
1,298,518
523,624,518
0
2,998,984
529,280,315
Releases to the Environment
Air: Air releases decreased 11% (166 thousand
pounds) since 2010.
Water: Water releases increased 0,31% (4 thou-
sand pounds) since 2010.
On-Site Land: On-site land releases increased
41% (152 million pounds) since 2010.
Underground Injection: Underground Injection
releases did not change since 2010.
Off-Site Transfers: Total off-site transfers have
increased 56% (1 million pounds) since 2010.
Facilities with Largest Chemical Releases
The top ten facilities in Nevada for total on-site
and off-site releases of all chemicals were the fol-
lowing:

Facility Name
City
County
Total
Releases
1
NEWMONT MINING CORP-
TWIN CREEKS MINE
GOLCONDA
Humboldt
134,408,150
2
NEWMONT MINING CORP-
CARLIN SOUTH AREA
CARLIN
Eureka
106,615,735
3
BARRICK BALD
MOUNTAIN MINE
ELKO
White Pine
86,488,722
4
NEWMONT MINING CORP-
COPPERCANYON FACILITY
BATTLE
MOUNTAIN
Lander
46,922,686
5
BARRICK CORTEZ
INC.
CRESCENT
VALLEY
Lander
39,160,831
6
COEUR ROCHESTER
INC.
LOVELOCK
Pershing
33,718,627
7
BARRICK GOLDSTRIKE
MINES INC.
ELKO
Elko
29,385,216
8
BARRICK RUBY
HILL MINE
EUREKA
Eureka
14,740,651
9
ROBINSON NEVADA
MINING CO.
RUTH
White Pine
12,640,545
10
SMOKY VALLEY COMMON
OPERATION
ROUND
MOUNTAIN
Nye
5,681,222
Top 10 Released Chemicals
The top released chemicals based on total on-site
and off-site releases in Nevada were the follow-
ing:
Chemical
Total Releases
(pounds)
Percentage of
Total Releases
ARSENIC AND ARSENIC COMPOUNDS
323,256,457
61%
LEAD AND LEAD COMPOUNDS
112,607,215
21%
MANGANESE AND MANGANESE
COMPOUNDS
25,381,527
5%
ZINC COMPOUNDS
20,139,075
4%
COPPER AND COPPER COMPOUNDS
15,065,140
3%
NITRATE COMPOUNDS
6,421,742
1%
ANTIMONY COMPOUNDS
5,180,908
1%
MERCURY AND MERCURY
COMPOUNDS
4,660,854
0.9%
NICKEL AND NICKEL COMPOUNDS
3,292,494
0.6%
VANADIUM COMPOUNDS
2,833,608
0.5%

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Industry Breakdown
Metal ore mining accounts for 98% of total releases
in 2011; this category includes the following met-
als: iron, gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, nickel,
uranium, radium, and vanadium.
PBT Chemical Releases
Starting in 2000, EPA established more stringent
reporting thresholds for persistent bioaccumulative
toxic (PBT) chemicals originally on, or added to, the
TRI chemical list PBT chemicals are of particular
concern not only because they are toxic, but also
because they remain in the environment for long
periods of time, are not readily destroyed, and build
up or accumulate in body tissue. The TRI PBT chemi-
cals include dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, lead
and lead compounds, mercury and mercury com-
pounds, polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), poly-
chlorinated biphenyls (PCBsJ, and certain pesticides,
among other chemicals.
In Nevada, 117 million pounds of total (on-site and
off-site] releases of PBT chemicals were reported
in 2011. This is an increase of 60 million pounds
or 104% since 2010. Lead and lead compounds
top the list again in 2011. The PBT chemicals in
the table are ranked in descending order for 2011.
Chemical
Total On-Site and Off-Site
Releases in Pounds
Percent
Change
2010
2011
LEAD AND LEAD COMPOUNDS
53,385,838
112,607,214
111%
MERCURY AND MERCURY
COMPOUNDS
4,216,578
4,660,853
11%
POLYCHLORINATED
BIPHENYLS (PCB's)
120
8,174
6,712%
TRIFLURALIN
3,067
4,196
37%
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC
COMPOUNDS
140
197
36%
BENZO(G,H,l)PERYLENE
16
16
0%
DIOXIN AND DIOXIN-LIKE
COMPOUNDS*
.013
.013
0%
Facilities with Largest PBT Releases
The top ten facilities in Nevada for total on-site
and off-site releases of PBT chemicals are the
following:

Facility Name
City
County
Total
Releases
1
COEUR ROCHESTER INC.
LOVELOCK
Pershing
33,710,746
2
BARRICK CORTEZ INC.
CRESCENT
VALLEY
Lander
20,278,874
3
BARRICK RUBY HILL MINE
EUREKA
EUREKA
Eureka
14,734,083
4
ROBINSON NEVADA
MINING CO.
RUTH
White Pine
12,334,060
5
NEWMONT MINING CORP-
CARLIN SOUTH AREA
CARLIN
Eureka
9,504,617
6
NEWMONT MINING CORP-
COPPERCANYON FACILITY
BATTLE
MOUNTAIN
Lander
7,109,254
7
NEWMONT MINING CORP-
TWIN CREEKS MINE
GOLCONDA
Humboldt
6,540,683
8
BARRICK GOLDSTRIKE
MINES INC.
ELKO
Elko
6,283,259
9
BARRICK BALD
MOUNTAIN MINE
ELKO
White Pine
1,595,152
10
HYCROFT MINE
WINNEMUCCA
Humboldt
1,075,617
For More Information
For more information, see www.epa.gov/tri for
national TRI information or www.epa.gov/region
09/tri for Regional TRI information, or contact Lily
Lee, Toxic Release Inventory Coordinator, US EPA
Region 9, at lee.lilv@epa.gov or 415-947-4187.
Release data alone are not sufficient to determine exposure
or to calculate potential risks to human health and the
environment. TRI data, in conjunction with other information,
such as the toxicity of the chemical, the release medium
(e.g., air), and site-specific conditions, can be used as a
starting point in evaluating exposures that may result from
releases of toxic chemicals.
' Releases of most Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT)
chemicals are in pounds. Dioxin and dioxin-like compounds data
are reported in grams but have been converted to pounds in the
table above.

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