Out today is the Environmental Protection Agency's latest Toxics Release Inventory, which allows the public to know what toxic chemicals are released into their communities. Information is released two years in arrears.
You can drill down in the data to your specific area here, but, in general, here are some of the findings for the states in our region, Illinois and Missouri:
Illinois:
- Illinois industries generated 10 million more pounds of toxic pollution in 2010 than they did in 2009.
- Pollution was disposed of in landfills and injection wells, released to waterways and emitted into the air.
- TRI data show 101.8 million pounds of toxins released or disposed of in Illinois in 2010. In 2009, that number was 91.8 million. But the 2010 total still is lower than 2008.
- The inventory also indicates more than 102.6 million pounds of waste was sent to recycling facilities, about 15 million pounds more than in 2009.
- Here's a link to the full fact sheet on Illinois' data.
Missouri:
- Missouri industries generated five million more pounds of toxic pollution in 2010 than they did in 2009.
- Pollution was disposed of in landfills and injection wells, released to waterways and emitted into the air.
- TRI data show 76.7 million pounds of toxins released or disposed of in Missouri in 2010. That's slightly higher than the 2009 number of 76.2 million. However, like in Illinois, both 2009 and 2010 were much lower compared with 2008's number of 91.9 million pounds.
- More waste was sent to recycling facilities in Missouri as well in 2010; 44.8 million pounds, versus 36.4 million pounds in 2009.
- Here's a link to the full fact sheet on Missouri's data.
