Every year, in the Toxics Release Inventory, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality provides public information about the manufacture, processing and use of toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury and ammonia by in-state industries and federal facilities. The DEQ’s 2016 Toxics Release Inventory Report, issued March 29, is required by federal environmental law and does not measure public exposure to the chemicals or evaluate risk, according to the DEQ.
“These reports were created to help people know what was being used in neighboring areas, people need to know about things that could be harmful to them,” said Sarah Stafford, professor of economics and director of public policy at the College of William & Mary. “You get to see across the board, which is important, because if you see good numbers for the air, is that because all of the pollution is going into the water? These reports show that.”
Know what’s going into your environment
Chemical releases are regulated to ensure people and the environment are protected against possible harm from improper disposal, according to a release from the DEQ. As part of its Inventory, the DEQ tracked offsite and on-site disposal.
On-site management, meaning where chemicals are produced, decreases the risk of release into the environment and interaction with other toxic chemicals, according to the EPA.
“It is a matter of the company, though,” Stafford said. “Dentists use silver, which can be harmful, but you don’t want your dentist to become a waste-treatment facility. They need to go off-site.”
Off-site facilities receive hazardous wastes for treatment, storage or disposal, according to the EPA.
And off-site treatment raises its own issues.
“One of the concerns you have with sending it off-site is using trucks or rail cars, and accidents happen with those,” said Ashby R. Scott, RCRA permit writer for the DEQ.
Reporting from 2016
In James City County, the 2016 Inventory identifies facilities using off-site or onsite chemical waste management, including Anheuser-Busch Inc. and Ball Metal Beverage Packaging. Also on the list is Toano’s Greystone of Virginia Inc., a maker of machined and plated parts for the automotive, aerospace and defense industries, according to its website.
According to DEQ, Anheuser-Busch released a total of 8,399 pounds of ammonia into the air on-site and none into on-site land or water, with none of this waste managed on-site. The brewer managed 2,162 pounds — or 25 percent of the total — through publicly owned treatment works and 1,330 pounds — or 15 percent — through other forms of off-site transfers.
Ammonia is used as an industrial refrigerant, and if it’s released into water it can be harmful to organic life, according to the EPA.
Anheuser-Busch, Ball Metal Beverage Packaging and Greystone did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
In York County, Yorktown Power Station’s on-site releases included 3,780 pounds of lead compounds into water, 90 pounds of lead compounds into the air, 20 pounds of mercury compounds into the air and 95 pounds of mercury compounds into the water, according to the DEQ.
“Our power stations aren’t emitting in concentration levels that are hazardous to humans,” said Dan Genest, a spokesman for Dominion Energy, the plant’s operator. “So there is a lot of stuff there, but it comes from operating over a large number of hours.”
Yorktown Power Station has three operating units which use coal and oil, Genest said. The oil unit is run about 8 percent of the time throughout the year, and the other two units will close permanently in spring 2019, he said.
Military facilities listed in the inventory include the CIA’s Camp Peary, which released 80 pounds of lead into the air on-site, and the Navy’s Defense Fuel Support Point Yorktown Fuels, which released 161 pounds of naphthalene into the air on-site, according to DEQ.
The CIA and Naval Weapons Station Yorktown did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
“It is important to know what is going on with these chemicals and the environment,” said Scott. “And this report helps to make informed citizens.”
