Education & Resources: Toxic Release Inventory
Sorry, Mr. President. This isn’t a “leak.” It’s the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doing its job of releasing information to the public. Given the current president’s approach to environmental problems, the EPA, and government transparency, we’d not be surprised to hear that he wasn’t pleased with that.
With that snarky attitude, it’s no wonder this Administration never listens to us. Ah well: We note this week that the EPA has released its preliminary 2016 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) dataset. This is the advance look at EPA’s annual report of what toxic chemicals are being released where, by whom, and in what amounts. Citizens and advocacy groups can search this data to determine whether discharging facilities have met their legal obligations to report to EPA, and what they’re discharging.
EPA will update this information for several months, and begin its analysis of the data. The final report and analysis will be released in January 2018. Due to the scope of reporting and the analysis required, the January reports are always based on data from a full calendar year before. Still, the information is highly valuable for agencies and citizen advocates seeking to understand toxic dangers in their communities, and to hold dischargers accountable for their pollution.
EPA’s website on the TRI includes important tools usable in understanding those community impacts.
It’s called public accountability, and we can use more of it, not less, regardless of what the current White House may believe.
