£ I o PRO^^° O z LU o Toxics Release Inventory Update California Mexico Border Reporting Years 2004 - 2006 U.S. EPA Region 9 Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and Tribal Nations - March 2008 On February 21, 2008 the EPA made public the 2006 data on the toxic chemicals that were released to the air, water, and land of California's Border region.* This report provides 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 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. 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 Code (NAICS); and manufactures, processes, or otherwise uses any of the listed toxic chemicals in amounts greater than the threshold quantities. For most chemicals the thresholds are 25,000 pounds for manufactured or processed, and 10,000 pounds for otherwise used. TRI Chemical Releases Total total on-site and off-site 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 3.5 3 _ QJ Q. ii_ TO o V # C 0- O ~o i 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 3.1 2.5 2.7 2004 2005 Reporting Year 2006 In 2006, reported releases in the Border area of California (3.1 million pounds) accounted for about 7% of the State's 45.2 million pounds of reported releases. Total reported air releases in the Border area of California during the past three years are displayed in the chart below: Total Air Releases 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.8 2004 2005 Reporting Year 2006 * 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 TRIfacilities that receive the on-site transfers. ** Year to year data comparisons do not reflect changes in reporting requirements. ------- California Mexico Border - March 2008 Trends in Releases In 2006, 81 facilities in the Border area of California reported releases of approximately 3.1 million pounds of toxic chemical to the TRI Program. The following chart tracks releases to the environment for reporting years 2004 through 2006. Largest Releases by Industry Type During 2006, five industries account for 94% of the total 3.1 million pounds of reported releases in the Border area of California. They are as follows: Industry Percentage of Total Releases National Security/Federal Facilities 39% Misc. Manufacturing 35% Ship Building & Repair 10% Beet Sugar Manufacturing 6% Electricity Generation 2% Largest Releases by Chemical Type The top five chemicals released in the California Border area in 2006, ranked by total on-site and off- site releases, are as follows: Page 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. GE Osmonics (Vista, San Diego County) with 1.1 million pounds (98% n,n-dimethylformamide releases). 2. U.S. Marine Corps MCB Camp Pendleton (Camp Pendleton, San Diego County) with 673 thousand pounds (63% nitrate compound releases). 3. U.S. Marine Corps Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (Niland, Imperial County) with 503 thousand pounds (82% copper releases). 4. General Dynamics NASSCO (San Diego, San Diego County) with 306 thousand pounds (50% n- butyl alcohol releases) 5. Spreckles Sugar Co. Inc. (Brawley, Imperial County) with 182 thousand pounds (nearly 100% ammonia releases). 6. Cabrillo Power LLC Encina Power Plant (Carlsbad, San Diego County) with 75 thousand pounds (nearly 100% ammonia releases). 7. Sony Electronics Inc. San Diego (San Diego, San Diego County) with 43 thousand pounds (55% ammonia releases). 8. U.S. Navy Naval Air Station North Island (San Diego, San Diego County) with 32 thousand pounds (52% dichloromethane releases). 9. Sumitomo Electric Interconnect Products Inc. (San Marcos, San Diego County) with 27 thousand pounds (100% ethylene glycol releases). 10. K-Tube Corp. (Poway, San Diego County) with 27 thousand pounds (98% trichloroethylene releases). 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/triexplorer Chemical Release (pounds) Percentage of Total Releases N,N Dimethylformamide 1,067,332 34% Copper 547,485 17% Nitrate Compounds 422,501 13% Ammonia 306,628 10% Lead Compounds 214,135 7% U.S. EPA Region 9 TRI Program Mariela Lopez (415) 972-3771 Total Releases for Reporting Years 2004 - 2006 Year Air Water On-Site Land Under- ground Injection Off-Site 2004 1.037.392 309.586 204.646 0 902.190 2005 1.046.424 330.660 409.655 0 955.060 2006 766.902 301.628 852.459 34.877 1.190.641 ------- |