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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah hosts one of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world and deals with an extraordinarily large volume of lead compounds as a result.
A new, annual inventory by the Environmental Protection Agency shows Utah ranks No. 2 out of 56 states and territories nationwide for total toxic releases per square mile. Alaska was first.
In 2013, the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory details that Utah accounted for nearly 12.7 percent of the total of such releases nationwide, with the majority of that coming from the mining sector.
The Kennecott Utah Copper mine, concentrators and power plant contributed the most — taking the top three spots for the state — followed by U.S. Magnesium and Clean Harbors Grassy Mountain.
"The TRI is about creating transparency where people live and helping them to understand what businesses around them are doing," said Kyle Bennett, a spokesman for Rio Tinto. "We are required by EPA guidelines that once we pick up dirt and rock and move it to another location, that is reportable."
Bennett added that 2013 saw increased activity at the mine as it worked to recover from a massive landslide that idled operations for some time. Rio Tinto's Kennecott operation mines 188,000 tons of copper ore and 340,000 tons of overburden each day, so Bennett said the trace materials add up over time.
"In 2013, we moved more material than we did in 2012, so the concentration of constituents in the material were greater," he said.
The TRI is about creating transparency where people live and helping them to understand what businesses around them are doing. We are required by EPA guidelines that once we pick up dirt and rock and move it to another location, that is reportable.
–Kyle Bennett, a spokesman for Rio Tinto.
Utah has 185 facilities that report to the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory, with 23 documenting new ways to reduce toxic releases.
Nationally, most of the toxic chemical waste managed at industrial facilities in the United States was not released into the environment, according to the EPA.
The inventory, released earlier this month, showed that about 22 billion pounds— or 84 percent— of the 26 billion pounds of toxic chemical waste were instead managed through the use of preferred practices such as recycling. Of the 4 billion pounds that were disposed of or otherwise released to the environment, 66 percent went to land, 19 percent to air, 5 percent to water, and 10 percent was transferred to other facilities.
Toxic chemicals managed as waste increased by 4 percent from 2012 to 2013, with the mining sector accounting for the largest quantity of total disposal, making up 47 percent of the releases for all industries.
In the Toxic Release Inventory, a "release" generally refers to a chemical that is emitted to the air, water or placed in some type of land disposal.
Last year, 88 metal mining facilities reported to the inventory, with those reporting tending to be in Western states, where most of the gold, silver and copper mining occurs. The extraction and use of those minerals generate large amounts of waste.
The Toxic Release Inventory data is submitted each year to the EPA, states and tribes by facilities that are in industry sectors such as metal mining, electric utilities and commercial hazardous waste.
The EPA notes that tens of thousands of chemicals are used by businesses in the United States in the manufacturing of products, including pharmaceuticals, clothing and automobiles. While many of the chemicals needed to create the products are classified as "toxic," the majority are managed so they are not released into the environment.
Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, facilities must report their toxic chemical releases for the prior year to EPA by July 1 of each year. The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 also requires facilities to submit information on pollution prevention and other waste management activities related to Toxic Release Inventory chemicals.
The inventory report is available in a new interactive, Web-based format that features analyses and interactive maps showing data at a state, county, city and zip code level.
