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The Environment & You: Who Has Released What into the Environment

The Environment & You: Who Has Released What into the Environment. Helena VonVille, MLS Library Directory University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston. Harris County Public Library. Who has released what into your community?. Information from the Toxics Release Inventory

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The Environment & You: Who Has Released What into the Environment

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  1. The Environment & You: Who Has Released What into the Environment Helena VonVille, MLS Library Directory University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston Harris County Public Library

  2. Who has released what into your community? • Information from the Toxics Release Inventory • 1987 to 2002 • Sources of data • TOXMAP • Provides information on who has released what as well as links to a database showing health effects • TRI Explorer • Only generate TRI reports by industry, trends, for specific chemicals or by facility; no health information available • Information from the National Response Center • Online reports from 1990 to present • Reports all accidental releases into the environment • Air Emission Event Report Return to Workshop Agenda

  3. Take me to TOXMAP What is TOXMAP? • Produced by the National Library of Medicine Specialized Information Services • Mapped guide to 48,205 facilities that reported to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program between 1987 and 2002 • Includes 3,683 facilities in Texas • 883 facilities within 100 mile radius of Houston • Chemicals that must be reported are found at the EPA

  4. Take me to TOXMAP What is TOXMAP? (cont’d) • Links to Hazardous Substances Data Bank • Includes health effects such as: • Causes cancer (carcinogenicity) • Skin, eye, and respiratory irritations • People at special risk • Children, elderly, pregnant women, etc. • Links to Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Reports (ATSDR)

  5. Take me to TOXMAP How to use TOXMAP Click on the map to recenter it. For example, click on Houston to view more of east Texas.

  6. Take me to TOXMAP Zooming In & Out This is after recentering the map. Click on + to zoom in. You will need to do so a few times.

  7. Take me to TOXMAP Recentering your map Now that we’ve zoomed in, we need to recenter by clicking just to the east of Houston, south of I-10.

  8. Take me to TOXMAP Identify Facilities on Your Map Click on Identify facilities on this map to see the names of the facilities shown in blue on the map. Hint: You can use the ZOOM bars to move in more quickly. However, don’t zoom too quickly as you may not end up where you want on the map.

  9. Take me to TOXMAP View Summary Reports The top 10 facilities by release amount are identified on the map. A list appears to the right with links to summary reports for each facility. Click on the facility name to view the summary report.

  10. Take me to TOXMAP Elements of a Summary Report The summary report provides a list of the top 5 chemicals by amount released (in pounds) for all years combined from 1987 to 2002. To view each TRI report by year and chemical, click on All chemicals reported by this facility.

  11. Take me to TOXMAP Linking to TRI Reports The most current reports (2002) will appear first; click on the company name above the chemical you want to view.

  12. Take me to TOXMAP TRI Report for Mercury Compounds This report shows amount released and where it is released– air, water, land/landfills. When finished with this report, you can also return to the previous page by clicking on Search Results at the top. To return to TOXMAP, simply close the report window.

  13. Take me to TOXMAP Look up Health Effects from TOXMAP Back at TOXMAP, click on the releases tab to do a search on the chemical you want to investigate.

  14. Type in the chemical name in the search box and click on Continue. Take me to TOXMAP Search TOXMAP by Chemical Name mercury compounds

  15. Take me to TOXMAP Search HSDB After Chemical Search Click on Human Health Effects to do a search in the Hazardous Substances Data Bank. This takes us back to TOXMAP, but now we see only those facilities that released mercury compounds in the area displayed by our map.

  16. Take me to TOXMAP HSDB Search Results A list of various types of mercury compounds is returned, with the chemical we want at the top of the list. See “The Environment & You: Health Effects” for more information on the HSDB.

  17. Take me to TOXMAP ATSDR Reports Back at the Chemical Reference Info menu, click on ToxFAQs & Public Health Statements

  18. Return to Releases Menu Take me to TOXMAP ATSDR Reports ToxFAQs are briefer than the Public Health Statements. Both are written in a style that is easier to understand than the HSDB. See “The Environment & You: Health Effects” for more information on both of the ATSDR reports.

  19. Take me to TRI Explorer What is the TRI Explorer? • From the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • Provides Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data from 1987 to 2002 • Interactive site which allows you to create: • Chemical Reports • Facility Reports • Federal Facility Reports • Trends Reports • Geography Reports • Industry Reports

  20. This example will demonstrate how to create a Chemicalreport. Take me to TRI Explorer TRI Explorer Home Page

  21. Take me to TRI Explorer Setting Up Your Report Under Geographic Location, chooseSelect a state or a county Select Texas, thenclick theSelect from List of Countiesbutton. The actual county selection is the last step.

  22. Take me to TRI Explorer Setting Up Your Report (cont’d) Select the type of chemicals you want to view. In this case, we are choosing Select a chemical group (e.g. HAPs). HAP stands for Hazardous Air Pollutants

  23. Setting Up Your Report (cont’d) Select theChemical Released again. Now we will select all Hazardous air pollutants.

  24. Take me to TRI Explorer Setting Up Your Report (cont’d) UnderIndustry, chooseSelect from list of SIC Code(s).

  25. Take me to TRI Explorer Setting Up Your Report (cont’d) In the window that pops up, select the industries for which you would like reports. In this example, Chemicals and Petroleum are the two industries selected.

  26. Take me to TRI Explorer Setting Up Your Report (cont’d) Now select a county. Why wait? If you do it too soon, you lose your county when you make your other selections. Note: You can change the Year of Data; this example will use 2002. Click on Generate Report.

  27. Take me to TRI Explorer Report Results The line above the table describes the contents of the report: All TRI on-site and off-site HAP reported releases in pounds for petroleum and chemical companies in Harris County.

  28. Report Results (cont’d) The top 2 rows of the table show where the pollutants were released– on-site or off-site and into wells, landfills, the air, surface water, etc.

  29. Report Results (cont’d) Need a definition of any of the release locations? Click on any of the items in the 2nd line to get a definition of the term.

  30. Take me to TRI Explorer Report Results (cont’d) The up/down triangles sort that column. The triangle in red indicates which column is sorted and if the sort is ascending or descending. The default is alphabetical by chemical name, but you can sort by amount released in any of the columns.

  31. Take me to TRI Explorer Additional Report Information Scroll down to Download the data generated in this report to a spreadsheet. Below that, the Note field provides definitions and other important information.

  32. Take me to TRI Explorer Other Report Types Changing the type of report will also change some of the variables (geographic location, chemical released, industry, etc.) from which you can choose. However, it is the same basic process to create the reports. You may have to play with the TRI Explorer some to get exactly what you need, but it is well worth the effort! Another feature is the ability to create a map. This will look different from the TOXMAP site, but by using it in combination with TOXMAP you can create a very powerful statement!

  33. Take me to TRI Explorer TRI Dynamic Maps Just as with the reports, select the variables you want. In this case, the map will show releases of PBT (Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic) Chemicals in the United States by County for AllIndustries for 2002.

  34. Take me to TRI Explorer PBT’s in the United States Click on Texas to zoom in. Texas Gulf Coast

  35. PBT’s in Texas Right click on a county to view a list of reports that are available.

  36. PBT’s in Texas Amazingly enough, San Patricio County (SE TX) has the highest amount of PBTs released in Texas, almost all in lead compounds from one company.

  37. Return to Releases Menu PBT Report for Harris County Look familiar? Selecting TRI Chemicals brings us back to the TRI Explorer. This list has been reordered so the chemical with the largest release (lead) is shown first.

  38. What is the National Response Center? • Serves as the only national point of contact for reporting all types of environmental discharges • Biological • Chemical • Oil • Radiological • Query system covers accidental releases, not those allowable by law Take me to the NRC

  39. between 03/01/2005 04/17/2005 Setting up your report To search by a date range, enter: between mm/dd/yyyy mm/dd/yyyy between 11/01/2004 12/01/2004 between 05/01/2003 07/31/2003 brazoria While you do not have to fill in all of the blanks, select at least a County; include the state as well. TX Take me to the NRC

  40. Setting up your report (cont’d) You can also sort the report. In this case, the report is in order by incident date. Take me to the NRC

  41. Search Results Each report includes the date of the release, the address of the occurrence, county & city, the company involved (if known), what was affected (water, air, etc.), and the chemical released. To view an individual report, click on the View link.

  42. Return to Releases Menu Report This report shows that 20 pounds of benzene were released on March 23, 2005 into the air. This is one of several reports from the BP plant explosion in Texas City.

  43. Take me to Air Emission Event Report Database What is the Air Remission Event Report? • From the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission • Query system covers accidental releases to the air in Texas, not those allowable by law • Data is available from 1/31/2003 to present

  44. Take me to Air Emission Event Report Database Search the Air Emission Event Database You can search for reports by specific customer, by regulated industry, or by data and county or region. The example here will demonstrate by date and county.

  45. Take me to Air Emission Event Report Database Search by Date Fill in the date where you want to begin searching. You can also specify a range of dates. Enter the name of the county you would like to look up and click the radio button beside County. Click Submit.

  46. Take me to Air Emission Event Report Database Search Results Click on the Tracking Number to view the detailed report.

  47. Take me to Air Emission Event Report Database Release Report The report tells who Where & When The cause (if known), action that was taken, and how emissions were estimated.

  48. Return to Releases Menu Take me to Air Emission Event Report Database Release Report The report shows what was released. And how much based on estimates. It also indicates the permit limits for releases of that chemical.

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