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Published in Spring 2001
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Taking Stock 1998 coming soon
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A preview of improvements to CEC’s pollutant report
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The next edition of Taking Stock, CEC’s annual report on sources and volumes of industrial pollution across North America, is slated for publication this spring. This year’s report presents data from the 1998 reporting year on 165 toxic chemicals, and will also highlight key trends in the sources and management of pollutants over the period 1995 to 1998.
Taking Stock compiles and compares publicly available data collected under the national pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) of Canada and the United States. Data from Mexico’s currently voluntary registry will be included in future reports when it becomes available.
Special features of this fifth Taking Stock report include:
- for the first time, data on pollutant sources such as electric utilities, hazardous waste management and solvent recovery facilities;
- analyses of recycling and energy recovery transfers, available for the first time on a North American basis;
- tracking of data over four years: 1995–1998;
- a new two-volume format; and
- a new method of classification for releases and transfers.
Two new developments in the national PRTR programs have significantly changed the scope of the matched North American data set for the 1998 reporting year. One is the reporting by additional industry sectors under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) in the US. The other is a requirement that facilities report transfers to recycling and energy recovery under the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) in Canada. As a result of these changes, the information available for the Taking Stock analyses is more comprehensive than in previous years. Taking Stock 1998 covers a broader range of industries and provides a first look at the amounts and types of chemicals sent for recycling in North America.
Taking Stock 1998 also features a new method of classification that aims to address a question that many users have raised: "Why are chemicals sent to a landfill site at the facility called a ‘release,’ while chemicals sent to a landfill site away from the facility are called a ‘transfer’? These are similar activities—shouldn’t they be presented in a similar way?"
In response, Taking Stock 1998 will use the following categories for presenting information on pollutant releases and transfers:
- "on-site releases"
describes releases that occur at the facility—i.e., chemicals put into the air, water, injected into underground wells or put in landfills "inside the fenceline."
- "off-site releases"
describes chemicals sent off site to other locations for land disposal, as well as metals sent to treatment, sewage and energy recovery.
- "total releases on- and off-site" or simply "total releases" is the sum of on-site and off-site releases.
- "transfers for further management"
encompasses (1) chemicals sent for recycling and (2) other transfers for further management, i.e., chemicals (other than metals) sent for treatment, energy recovery and to sewage plants.
- "total reported amounts" describes the sum of all of the above categories: on- and off-site releases, recycling and other transfers for further management. While not perfect, this is the closest estimate available from PRTR data of the total amount of chemicals arising from a facility’s activities that need to be managed.
This new approach to presenting the data in Taking Stock has several benefits. It brings together similar activities, for example, all chemicals that are landfilled are called releases, regardless of where the landfill is located. It also recognizes the physical nature of metals, and acknowledges that metals sent to disposal, sewage, treatment and energy recovery are not likely to be destroyed or burned and so may eventually enter the environment. These changes were supported by the three national governments.
Taking Stock 1998 will also feature a new two-volume format. Volume I will provide a summary overview and highlights of the data for the 1998 reporting year, as well as key trends from 1995 to 1998. It also includes a section on "frequently asked questions" intended to help the reader understand the information and to put it in context of environmental and health issues. Volume II will provide more detailed analyses of the data and include numerous tables and figures.
The report will be available in hard copy (contact CEC to request a copy) and on our website at http://www.cec.org. We encourage you to take a look at it, and to let us know what you think of the new format and other changes to the report.
Taking Stock "online"
As Taking Stock data comes online, users will be able to make their own customized queries. Look for the site this spring via the CEC website at http://www.cec.org.
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