Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
Latest TRI Data Released for 2004

The latest Toxic Release Inventory for 2004 was released in April 2006. Nearly 400 tons of various kinds of toxic pollution were released into the Midlothian's air, land and water in 2004, including over 1000 pounds of Mercury, 25,000 pounds of Lead, 58,000 pounds of Benzene, 89,000 pounds of Toluene, and 600 pounds each of Styrene and Naphthalene.

Attached is an Excel sheet that tracks TRI releases from the four largest polluters in Midlothian - the three cement plants and Chaparral - from 1998 to 2004. At first glance it can be intimidating-there's a lot of info. But it is organized by year and facility to make annual comparisons easier. "Air releases "= stack releases. "Land releases" = quarries. "H2O releases" = creeks that run into Joe Pool Lake. "On-site" is everything released into the Midlothian environment. "Off-site" is the waste that was sent to another disposal site outside of town.

As always, these TRI numbers should be taken with a grain of salt considering they are voluntarily submitted by the companies themselves, there are loopholes for not reporting emissions under 500 -1000 pounds for many chemicals, and all the numbers are based on mathematical formulas, not real time monitoring.

Also, the TRI does not report on "conventional pollutants" like Sulfur Dioxide - a known cause of respiratory problems, Nitrogen Oxides, the gases that help form smog, greenhouse gases contributing to global warming, or even Particulate Matter, a deadly pollutant in its own right, even before it acts as a suitcase to carry bits of lead, mercury, etc, deep into our lungs.

For a look at how much information on toxins goes missing in a TRI report, compare the State's Emissions Inventory for 2003 that's included in the Excel sheet with the numbers reported to EPA in 2003. You'll see significant gaps. We’re still waiting for the State's 2004 numbers to come out.

Nevertheless, TRI numbers provide a measuring stick of some sort. This year, that stick tells us that overall emissions are down a bit (although the facilities are not consistent in their reporting for all chemicals, so this could mean absolutely nothing) but that some specific worrisome toxins have increased. 

Stack releases of Mercury were up by almost 200 pounds, and Mercury releases in total up by 300 pounds - mostly from Ash Grove. Stack releases of Lead went down by almost two-thirds, but total Lead in the quarries went up, as did Chaparral's shipping of over 100,000 pounds of lead off site to be disposed of in someone else's backyard.  Holcim's Benzene numbers continue to be high and its Toluene numbers have never been higher. TXI is still burning hazardous waste and so two old poisons that haven't been listed in a while make a deadly reappearance - Styrene and Naphthalene. 

You can look up the health effects of exposure to these chemicals via EPA's website or the Right-to-Know Network at RTK.org. They include everything from learning disabilities to cancer. But the truth is, no one knows what the health effects are to people that are exposed to a variety of these substances, as the people in Midlothian and other downwind populations are, every year.

click here >> to view the spreadsheet