 |
 n analysis released today by the Environmental
Defense Fund (EDF) using the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
new Sector Facility Indexing database shows that a quarter of the industries
listed in the sector database are in "significant noncompliance"
with the Clean Air Act. The user-friendly database (www.epa.gov/oeca/sfi)
enables the public to compare enforcement, environmental release, and spill
data for facilities within and between five industrial sectors: automobile
assembly, petroleum refining, pulp manufacturing, iron and steel mills,
and the smelting and refining of nonferrous metal (i.e., aluminum, copper,
lead, and zinc).
 "It is astounding that 25% of
the types of major facilities covered by the Sector Facility Indexing database
currently are in significant noncompearance with the Clean Air Act,"
said EDF senior engineer Lois Epstein. Integrated iron and steel mills have
the worst current Clean Air Act violation record (63%) of the facilities
in the database. "Now that the public, including lending institutions
and other interested parties, can get state and federal enforcement information
easily for particular facilities, those firms with violations should be
better motivated to comply with environmental laws." Additional information
on these facilities, including their cancer and non-cancer hazards, is available
through EDF's new chemical score card at www.scorecard.org.
The EDF data analysis released today
also showed that over 40% of the facilities covered by the database had
a spill large enough to require reporting in the past two years, with the
worst record again at integrated iron and steel mills (70%). In contrast,
iron and steel "mini-mills" have the best spill record, with only
16.5% reporting spills in the past two years. Petroleum refineries have
the second worst current Clean Air Act compliance and spill records.
The Sector Facility Indexing database
covers 653 facilities, representing 3% of the approximately 23,000 manufacturers
reporting to EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and 24% of the total releases
reported to TRI. It includes enforcement data under three federal environmental
statutes: the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act which covers solid and hazardous wastes. Because several
industries and states opposed placing Sector Facility Indexing information
on-line (raising concerns with data quality), EPA undertook an extensive
data quality control effort. After both facilities and states reviewed and
commented upon the data, EPA and states made changes on less than 5%.
"This new database tool provides
the public with an excellent means to identify, for example, facilities
with the greatest population density and environmental justice concerns,
facilities with the best and worst enforcement, and spill records federally
or within a particular state, and the states performing the most inspections,"
said Epstein.
"The Sector Facility Indexing
(SFI) database is a model of government responsiveness to the public's need
for accessible, facility-specific, environmental protection information.
The SFI database should be expanded immediately to cover additional industrial
sectors," said EDF senior attorney Kevin Mills.  |
Environmental Defense Fund Data Analysis Developed Using The Sector
Facility Indexing Database: Clean Air Act Compliance And Spill Findings
Lois N. Epstein, P.E. Senior Engineer, May 8, 1998
| Industrial Sector |
Clean Air Act significant* non-compliance (%) |
Reportable spills within past 2 years (%) |
Number of facilities |
| Automobile Assembly |
22 |
22 |
58 |
| Integrated Iron and Steel Mills** |
63 |
70 |
27 |
| Iron and Steel Mini-Mills** |
24 |
16.5 |
91 |
| Non-Ferrous Metals |
|
|
|
Aluminum
|
17 |
52 |
23 |
Copper
|
14 |
24 |
21 |
Lead
|
0 (0 of 4) |
50 (2 of 4) |
4 |
Zinc
|
33 (1 of 3) |
33 (1 of 3) |
3 |
| Petroleum Refining |
34 |
64 |
179 |
| Pulp Manufacturing |
17 |
36 |
247 |
| All of the Above |
25 |
42 |
653 |
* Significant noncompliance means there are emissions that
exceed allowable limits, and non-minor procedural violations (e.g., facilities
that are not reporting required information); the significant noncompliance
figures in the database are likely to be conservative, or low, because some
facilities are not inspected and some states do not provide all required
data to EPA.
** Integrated iron and steel mills produce steel from coke,
iron, ore, and scrap, while iron and steel mini-mills use electric arc furnaces
to produce steel from scrap and other materials.
Findings
1) Integrated iron and steel mills have the worst current
Clean Air Act compliance record and the highest spill rate among the industries
in the Sector Facility Indexing (SFI) database.
2) Petroleum refining facilities have the second worst
current Clean Air Act compliance record and the second highest spill rate
among the industries in the SFI database.
3) Nonferrous metal smelting and refining and pulp manufacturing
facilities have the best current Clean Air Act compliance records among
the industries in the SFI database, but noncompliance is still over 15%
for these sectors.
4) Iron and steel mini-mills have the best spill rate among
the industries in the SFI database (16.5% over the past two years); other
industries in the database have at least a 20% spill rate for the past two
years.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency Sector Facility
Indexing database (www.epa.gov/oeca/sfi) |
