Nevada’s toxic releases increase 2 percent in 2007

By Mary Manning

Thursday, March 19, 2009 | 1:47 p.m.

Toxic releases into the environment from Nevada's mines and hazardous waste facilities increased 2 percent in 2007, according to a federal agency.

On-site land releases increased 3.4 million pounds, a 2 percent increase statewide, the report said.

Nevada's off-site releases into air, water and soils nearly doubled in 2007, an increase of more than 1 million pounds, said the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which today released the latest data received from industries for 2007 compared to 2006.

The largest increase was reported by 21st Century Environmental Management, Inc., a hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility northeast of Reno in Fernley, reporting 1.2 million pounds, the report said.

Nationwide there was a 5 percent decrease in total disposal or other releases into the environment from 2006 to 2007, the last year data is available.

Air releases decreased 7.8 percent in 2007 and water releases also decreased 192,000 pounds from 2006, a 99.9 percent decline. The decrease was due almost entirely to one gold mine, Newmont-Lone Tree Mine, which reported a 191,000-pound decrease.

Metal mining facilities account for 96 percent of Nevada's chemical releases, the report said. Mining land releases and off-site disposal drive Nevada's 4.5 million pound increase for 2007, the EPA said.

The annual Toxic Release Inventory report began in 1987 as industries reported their data to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for the first time. The inventory provides information on annual toxic chemical releases reported by certain industrial and federal facilities. The TRI does not include data on toxic emissions from cars or truck, nor from major non-industrial sources such as farms or ranches.

"The Toxic Release Inventory program arms communities with powerful information," said Laura Yoshii, acting EPA administrator for the Pacific Southwest region. "The inventory is a tremendous took to help protect public health and the environment. Safe communities depend on well-informed citizens."

In 2000, the Toxic Release Inventory expanded to include persistent bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, or PTBs, at ranges from 0.1 grams to 100 pounds. PBT pollutants are toxic chemicals that remain in the environment and food chain, posing risks to human health and ecosystems.