PORTLAND—Exposure
to dangerous toxic pollution from industrial facilities threatens
communities in Oregon and across the country, according to a new report
released today by OSPIRG.
The report, Toxic Pollution and Health,
uses information from the federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) to
analyze toxic pollution linked to serious health problems such as
cancer, birth defects or neurological damage. Due to a recent EPA
action restricting the public’s right-to-know, today’s report may
provide one of the last complete pictures of toxic pollution in Oregon.
In
2004, three Oregon counties ranked in the top 50 nationally for the
most air and water releases of carcinogens. These carcinogens are known
to cause cancer, including malignant tumors and other cancerous
diseases such as leukemia.
- Linn
County, home to the Entek International LCC facility in Lebanon and
Weyerhaeuser’s Albany facility, ranks 20 th nationally with over
460,000 pounds of carcinogens being released into the air and water.
-
Douglas County hosts the state’s largest source of carcinogens, the
Roseburg Forest Products Complex in Dillard. This facility alone emits
over 360,000 pounds of cancer-causing carcinogens into the air and
water.
-
Lane County, the site of two large Weyerhaeuser facilities, ranks 44 th
in the nation for carcinogenic releases. The two Weyerhaeuser
facilities, one in Springfield and the other in Eugene, contribute to
the almost 300,000 pounds of carcinogens that were released in Lane
County in 2004.
“This
report confirms that communities across Oregon are routinely put at
risk by toxic pollution linked to serious health impacts,” said OSPIRG
Field Director Jonathan Jelen. “These toxic pollutants are the worst of
the worst and pose tangible threats to public health that must be
addressed.”
The
federal Toxic Release Inventory is a public right-to-know program that
requires industrial facilities to publicly disclose their toxic
releases. In 2004, EPA reported that the TRI has helped to reduce toxic
pollution by 57% nationwide since its inception in 1988. Despite this
success, the EPA recently weakened the program by authorizing
industrial facilities to withhold previously reported pollution
information.
“To
address the potential health threats from toxic pollution, we need full
information about what toxics are being released, where, and in what
amounts,” said Jonathan Jelen. “Unfortunately, EPA’s attack on the
public’s right-to-know means that Oregon communities will be left in
the dark about toxic pollution.”
Oregon
Representatives Blumenauer and DeFazio and Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ)
and Boxer (D-CA) recently challenged EPA’s rollbacks by introducing the
Toxic Right-to-Know Protection Act (H.R. 1055 and S. 595). This
legislation would reverse the rollbacks to restore the lost data and
ensure that communities have full and complete access to toxic
pollution information.
“We
encourage the full Oregon delegation to support the public’s right to
know and protect Oregon’s communities by cosponsoring this legislation.”
