No matter how you add it up, Utah's top corporate polluter - and one of the nation's top polluters - is still Magnesium Corporation of America in Tooele County.
According to the annual Toxic Release Inventory by the Environmental Protection Agency, the company, better known in Utah as MagCorp, released 65.3 million pounds of emissions into Utah's air in 1996, most of which was a toxic chlorine byproduct from its magnesium production.That amount is more than six times the pollutants released by Utah's next biggest corporate polluter, Kennecott Utah Copper, which generated 10.1 million pounds of pollutants that went into the air, water and land, the report states.
MagCorp accounts for about 80 percent of the 82 million pounds of corporate pollutants released into Utah's air, water and land. That contribution is enough to push the state into a ranking of 7th nationally in the amount of pollutants released into the environment.
Nevertheless, state environmental officials are not that surprised or concerned about the high quantities of chlorine in the air. They say chlorine breaks down rapidly once it is released into the air and little, if any, ever reaches populated areas. A chlorine monitoring station in Grantsville, which is the closest community to MagCorp, records minuscule amounts of chlorine.
Not everyone is convinced. A group calling itself Citizens Against Chlorine Contamination, with the support of various environmental groups, has launched a public education campaign about the dangers of chlorine emissions and other pollutants generated by MagCorp.
The problem is that no one knows how much chlorine is safe, said Brent Bradford, deputy director of the state Department of Environmental Quality. "There are no national health-based standards for chlorine at this point. The federal government is required to do that, but they are a ways off, and we don't have the information to do it at a state level," he said.
That is one reason why the department and the University of Utah are conducting chlorine studies in Tooele County, Bradford said.
Statewide, the amount of toxic pollutants increased by about 7 percent over the previous year. Some 144 Utah facilities reported the release of slightly less than 82 million pounds of chemical toxins. That amount is about twice the amount of toxic pollution generated by California industry.
Nationally, the inventory revealed total chemical releases of 2.4 billion pounds, down from 2.5 billion pounds in 1995. However, in the Western region, releases of toxic chemicals increased 4 percent, from about 146 million pounds in 1995 to 152 million pounds in 1996.
The 7 percent increase was enough to push Utah from its 10th highest-in-the-nation ranking in 1995 to seventh nationally in 1996. Despite the increase, DEQ spokesperson Carol Sisco said Utah's pollution has been cut dramatically.
In 1989, the first year of the Toxic Release Inventory, some 151 million pounds of pollutants were released into Utah's environment. Since that time, pollutants have been reduced by about 45 percent over the past eight years. Chlorine emissions have been reduced 40 percent in that same period.
Even though there is uncertainty on what constitutes safe levels of chlorine, "We are working with MagCorp on additional design changes at the facility to reduce emissions even further," Bradford said. "While we have a large amount of emissions, it is a controlled source of pollution and has been since it was built in 1975. The question is whether we need additional controls."
According to the latest report, some 59.3 million pounds of Utah's pollution was chlorine. The next biggest pollutant was hydrochloric acid with 6.6 million pounds, copper compounds with 5.8 million pounds, zinc compounds with 3.1 million pounds and nitrate compounds with 1.2 million pounds.
In addition to state efforts to reduce chlorine emissions, Bradford said the state has made substantial progress in recent years to reduce fine particulate pollutions common in industries such as Kennecott and hydrocarbon pollutions generated by oil refineries.
"We have achieved some nice results," he said, adding the state may very well reach compliance with federal ozone standards as a result.
Nevertheless, the biggest pollution challenge facing the state is not pollution from corporate giants but from automobiles. In 1996, cars and light trucks spewed an estimated 1.37 billion pounds of pollutants into Utah's air.
"With the kind of growth we are seeing, every car added to Utah roads adds a little more to the problem," Bradford said.
The total amount of pollutants reported by Utah companies in 1996 amounted to only 6 percent of the amount of air pollution caused by automobiles.
The Toxic Release Inventory program requires companies to publicly report the amounts of toxic chemicals their manufacturing facilities annually release into the air, water and land.
"Many businesses in the region are working to reduce, and even eliminate entirely, chemical pollution near residential communities," said EPA regional administrator Bill Yellowtail. "Yet, as the 1996 TRI report shows, work still needs to be done to prevent any further erosion of past gains in cutting toxic pollution."
In April 1997, EPA Administrator Carol Browner signed a rule expanding industry reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning Community Right-to-Know Act requiring companies to disclose pollutants. Beginning with the 1998 report, that rule will require 6,100 more facilities to make the disclosures - a 30 percent increase over the number of companies now required to make the disclosures.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Toxic Release - Top polluters
Total on-site chemical releases
... In pounds
1. Texas 253,406,460
2. Louisiana 182,105,743
3. Ohio 118,159,757
4. Illinois 96,917,534
5. Tennessee 94,876,703
6. Alabama 90,024,711
7. UTAH 81,986,149
8. No. Carolina 81,175,583
9. Florida 75,389,022
10. Indiana 74,672,390
Top 10 Utah facilities for on- and off-site chemical releases
... In pounds
1. Magnesium Corp. of America, Rowley, Tooele Co. 65,311,364
2. Kennecott Utah Copper, Magna 9,360,290
3. Geneva Steel, Vineyard, Utah Co. 1,926,635
4. Western Zirconium, Ogden 1,745,319
5. Thiokol Propulsion Group, Promontory, Box Elder Co. 330,000
6. Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe, Provo 264,108
7. American Azide Corp., Cedar City 262,042
8. Hexcel Corp., Salt Lake City 234,286
9. Simpson Steel Fabricators & Erectors, Murray 215,835
10. Amoco Petroleum Products, Salt Lake City 132,421