U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Pacific Southwest/Region 9	Seiving Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands and 148 Tribes
Communities and Ecosystem Division
75 Hawthorne Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105
Toxics Office
866-EPA-WEST
• www.epa.gov/region9
Toxics Release Inventory
2011 California Report
California's Releases
1,265 California facilities reported a total of 38
million pounds of toxic chemical releases during
2011. California's total reported on-site and off-
site releases increased 10% (3 million pounds),
when compared to 2010 data.
What is a Release?
A TRI "release" is defined by Federal reporting laws
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 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
9,486,601
1,703,574
21,276,558
384,610
4135,541
36,986,883
2010
8,985,496
2,617,165
19,649,361
127,064
3,503,751
34,882,836
2011
7,845,634
2,875,582
21,506,209
41,690
6,032,345
38,301,459
Note: The 2011 reports include reports about 16 new chemicals
that were not required to be reported in earlier years. Therefore
this chart excludes those chemicals in order to compare the reports
from the same list of chemicals.
Releases to the Environment
Air: Air releases decreased 13% (one million
pounds) since 2010.
Water: Water releases increased 10% (258 thou-
sand pounds) since 2010.
On-Site Land: On-site land releases increased 9%
(2 million pounds) since 2010.
Underground Injection: Underground Injection
releases decreased 67% ( 2.5 million pounds) since
2010.
Off-Site Transfers: Total off-site transfers have
increased 72% (2.5 million pounds) since 2010.
Facilities with Largest Chemical Releases
The top ten facilities in California for total on-
site and off-site releases of all chemicals were
the following:

Facility Name
City
County
Total
Releases
1
CLEAN HARBORS
BUTTON WILLOW LLC
Buttonwillow
Kern
9,861,640
2
US MARINE CORPS - CHOCOLATE
MOUNTAINS AERIALGUNNERY RANGE
Niland
Imperial
3,903,712
3
CHEMICAL WASTE
MANAGEMENT INC.
Kettleman City
Kings
3,901,513
4
MESQUITE MINE
Brawley
Imperial
2,583,483
5
CHEVRON PRODUCTS CO.
DIV. OF CHEVRON USA INC.
El Segundo
Los Angeles
1,772,493
6
QUEMETCOINC.
City of industry
Los Angeles
1,576,634
7
SGL TECHNIC INC.
POLYCARBON DIV.
Santa Clarita
Los Angeles
1,332,051
8
CONOCOPHILLIPS-
SAN FRANCISCO REFINERY
Rodeo
Contra Costa
896,733
9
BP WEST COAST PRODUCTS LLC-
CARSON BP CARSON REFINERY
Carson
Los Angeles
579,055
10
VALERO REFINING CO-
CALI FORNIA BENICIA REFINERY
Benicia
Solano
504,472
Top 10 Released Chemicals
The top released chemicals based on total on-site
and off-site releases in California were the follow-
ing:
Chemical
Total Releases
Percentage of
(pounds)
Total Releases
COPPER AND COPPER COMPOUNDS
5,630,344
15%
NITRATE COMPOUNDS
5,073,831
13%
LEAD AND LEAD COMPOUNDS
4,887,617
13%
ASBESTOS (FRIABLE)
3,209,127
8%
AMMONIA
2,813,077
7%
METHYL TERT-BUTYL ETHER
1,884,235
5%
STYRENE
1,219,474
3%
ZINC AND ZINC COMPOUNDS
1,198,390
3%
N-HEXANE
1,165,769
3%
TOLUENE
1,124,466
3%

-------
Industry Breakdown
Hazardous Waste/Solvent Recovery accounted for
35% of total releases in 2011.
Industry Sectors
All other

23%

Metal Mining 1

7% SSI

Primary Metals

IBj

Federal

Facilities
— - ^"^^Petroleum
12%
16%
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.
In California, 16 Million pounds of total (on-site
and off-site] releases of PBT chemicals were re-
ported in 2011. This is an increase of 3 million
pounds or 24% since 2010.
Chemical
Total On-Site and Off-Site
Releases in Pounds
Percent
Change
2010
2011
LEAD AND LEAD COMPOUNDS
4,722,975
4,887,617
3%
MERCURY AND MERCURY
COMPOUNDS
43,859
21,041
-52%
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC
COMPOUNDS
24,328
12,421
-48%
TETRABROMOBISPHENOL A
1,995
2,738
37%
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
20,756
1,523
-92%
BENZO(G,H,l)PERYLENE
2,487
1,072
-57%
DIOXIN AND DIOXIN LIKE
COMPONDS*
0.39
0.28
-29%
* 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 for consistency.
Facilities with Largest PBT Releases
The top five facilities in California are:

Facility Name
City
County
Total
Releases
1
MESQUITE MINE
Brawl ey
Imperial
2,578,003
2
QUEMETCOINC.
City of
Industry
Los Angeles
1,126,595
3
CHEMICAL WASTE
MANAGEMENT INC.
Kettleman City
Kings
448,784
4
EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
293,699
5
CLEAN HARBORS
BUTTONWILLOW LLC
Buttonwillow
Kern
247,296
New Chemicals Reported for the FirstTime
EPA added 16 new chemicals to the list of chemi-
cals required to be reported to the TRI. Each
chemical has been classified as "reasonably antici-
pated to be a human carcinogen" by the National
Toxicology Program (NTP] in its Report on Car-
cinogens (RoC] document. Five California facili-
ties reported air releases of isoprene for the first
time.

Facility Name
City
County
Total
Releases
1
BP WEST COAST
PRODUCTS LLC
Carson
Los Angeles
19
2
EXXON MOBIL OIL CORP-
TORRANCE REFINERY
Torrance
Los Angeles
13
3
CHEVRON PRODUCTS CO. -
RICHMOND REFINERY
Richmond
Contra Costa
12
4
CHEVRON PRODUCTS CO. -
DIV. OF CHEVRON USA INC.
El Segundo
Los Angeles
6
5
CHEVRON-RICHMOND
TECHNOLOGY CENTER
Richmond
Contra Costa


Total


50
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.

-------