EPA Proposal Threatens Public Health
by Robert Leger,
SPJ Freedom of Information Committee
The EPA proposes two changes that would cut the legs out from under a premier community right-to-know law, the Toxic Release Inventory. The annual TRI informs communities about the amounts of toxic chemicals released into the air, water and land. The information empowers citizens to press companies to reduce pollution. In many ways, openly available information is a greater force than regulation for protecting public health.
The proposed rule change would raise the threshold for reporting the details on toxic releases by 10 times. And the EPA has informed Congress that it intends to take the reports every other year, instead of the current annual requirement.
Companies report pollution in one of two ways. Depending on the type of chemical and the amount released, a very small number of facilities may use a short report, Form A, that lists only the name of the chemical and no other details. Most facilities are required to file a Form R, which lists the chemical, how much was released and where it went (air, water, land).
Releases and disposals of persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs), like lead and mercury, must be reported on Form R. The EPA change would let companies report the handling of 500 pounds or less of PBTs on the short form (as long as the PBTs are not released directly into the environment).
The EPA also wants to raise the threshold for full reporting on non-PBT chemicals from 500 pounds to 5,000 pounds. It says that releases between 500 and 5,000 pounds account for no more than 2 percent of the waste tracked under TRI. While that may be true, the argument understates the impact on communities. If your neighborhood is downwind from a toxic release, several thousand pounds is significant.
Under this rule change, almost 4,000 facilities would no longer have to report details of their toxic pollution, according to OMB Watch. More than one-fourth of the current 80,170 Form Rs would be eligible for Form A reporting. And 2,364 communities would be denied details on half of the chemicals being released in their area.
A company that is releasing 2,000 pounds of benzene -- the chemical that wreaked havoc with China's water supply last month -- currently must report details on emissions. The community is fully informed. Under the proposed change, this company could increase its releases by 500 pounds a year and not have report it until the amount exceeded 5,000 pounds. The community would be kept in the dark about these increases for seven years.
The EPA comment period runs through Dec. 5. The changes are listed as Docket TRI-2005-0073. Comments may be posted at regulations.gov.
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PEOPLE & PLACES
The Optimist student newspaper at Abilene Christian U. received a 2005 Pacemaker, arguably the most coveted recognition in college journalism, at the Associated College Press annual convention in Kansas City, Mo. Second-year editor Jonathan Smith accepted the award on behalf of the staff. The Optimist was one of 25 newspapers nationwide to be honored and one of only two from Texas. Other winners included The Harvard Crimson, the UTD Mercury at UT Dallas and The University Daily Kansas at the University of Kansas. While the Optimist regularly earns the ACP All-American ranking, this is its first Pacemaker since 1983. ...
Fort Worth Weekly was named best medium/market special interest newspaper at the 47th annual Katie Awards, a six-state media competition. The Star-Telegram won best major-market daily paper for the third year in a row and won in several other categories on the work of Tim Madigan, Liz Stevens, Trebor Banstetter, Steve Wilson, Mark Rogers, Khampha Bouaphanh, Sonny Bohanan, Ellen Schroeder and Rodger Mallison. Former SPJ Fort Worth chapter programs VP Penny Cockerell with The Oklahoman also won a Katie, as did Fort Worth Weekly's Dan Malone, Betty Brink and Brooke Gray, and Robert Francis and Bill Thompson at the Fort Worth Business Press. UTA Shorthorn ex Mary Schlangenstein with Bloomberg News won three Katies, and a JPS Health Network team of Drenda Witt, Stacy Boatman, Margaret Campbell and Jamie Brown won for the Partners Gala media kit.
Baby daze! Daniel Perotin Banstetter was born at 6:19 a.m. Nov. 12 at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Medical Center to proud parents Trebor and Maria Perotin Banstetter, both Star-Telegram reporters.
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