From: | Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org> |
Date: | Mon, 08 Apr 1996 12:40:41 -0700 (PDT) |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | DOD Toxic Releases |
From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org> DOD RELEASES FIRST TOXICS RELEASE INVENTORY (TRI) REPORT For the first time, the Department of Defense has submitted a nationwide report on its toxic releases. As required by a 1993 Executive Order, the DOD has submitted detailed data, by installation, to the Environmental Protection Agency and the states in those installations are located. The nationwide report, covering calendar year 1994, summarizes releases at 131 Defense installations - including contractor-operated facilities, many of which had previously complied with the TRI - that met the threshold reporting requirements. The combined release of TRI chemicals by reporting DOD installations totaled 11.46 million pounds in 1994. DOD points out: "By comparison, private industry releases for the TRI reporting year 1993, the most current available, were 2.8 billion pounds. Thus, DoD represents a small portion of those total TRI releases, approximately .41%." DOD suggests that this is because it is a downstream user of chemicals, not a manufacturer. The totals, by type of release, were as follows. Note that the weights apply to the toxic constituents, not the total waste. TOTAL RELEASES 11,464,110 pounds ON-SITE Total 7,434,549 pounds Air 7,244,137 Land 97,363 Water 92,659 Injection Wells 390 OFF-SITE Total 4,029,561 pounds Waste Disposal Facility 2,595,698 Waste Treatment Facility 1,333,449 Publicly Owned Treatment Works 100,414 Total reported releases of three chemicals - all solvents - exceeded one million pounds: dichloromethane (methylene chloride), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), and 1,1,1, trichloroethane (TCA or methyl chloroform). The fourth on the list, ethylene glycol, is primarily used as an airplane de-icer. The top ten chemicals, listed below, accounted for 68% of the reported releases in 1994. RELEASES BY CHEMICAL Dichloromethane 2,225,154 pounds Methyl Ethyl Ketone 1,488,138 1,1,1 Trichloroethane 1,231,470 Ethylene Glycol 588,067 Toluene 444,500 Phenol 411,988 Zinc Compounds 409,180 Tetrachloroethylene 359,039 Hexachloroethane 351,370 Hydrochloric Acid 298,896 DOD says it has "made enormous progress" in reducing its use and release of ozone-depleting substances: "In just five years, the Department decreased its use of halon from 10,325,000 pounds in 1990 to 231,000 pounds in 199; and its use of CFCs [chlorofluorocarbons] from 14,588,000 pounds in 1990 to 313,000 in 1995." It neglects to mention that TCA, third on its list, is also an ozone-depleting substance. Ten installations, all off which are industrial activities, accounted for 52% of the reported releases. Two, Lockheed-Martin and Vought Aircraft, are contractor-operated. Two others, Kelly and McClellan Air Force Bases, were just approved for closure, although the government is looking for ways to continue at least some of their operations under private ownership. RELEASES BY FACILITY Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma 1,569,614 pounds Robins Air Force Base, Georgia 776,616 Pine Bluff Arsenal (Army), Arkansas 721,364 Lockheed-Martin (Air Force), Marietta, Georgia 554,555 Anniston Army Depot, Alabama 548,073 Vought Aircraft Company (Navy), Dallas, Texas 462,481 Hill Air Force Base, Utah 367,909 Kelly Air Force Base, Texas 344,631 McClellan Air Force Base, California 340,750 Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida 325,648 Given the experience with private companies' TRI reporting, it will probably be a few years before all DOD installations get their numbers right (or at least as accurate as they will ever be). However, DOD is already using the data to make plans to reduce its releases: "In a pilot initiative the Department is calling Toxics Reduction Investment and Management, DoD intends to first identify and quantify the industrial and maintenance processes that produced the releases, then identify the military specification, standard, procedure, and other technical document that requires the process to use the TRI chemical. This analysis, although it cannot be used as the sole basis for prioritization, will provide valuable assistance to the Department in developing its pollution prevention investment strategy, managing environmental technology efforts, and prioritizing the revision of standardized documents." | |
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