For years, one of the biggest problems with data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory was that it seemed hopelessly out of date.

Historically, figures publicly released lagged about two years behind. Companies reported annual releases the following July. EPA took months to compile it into various reports and make it available.

That all might be changing, according to this news release issued this morning by President Obama’s EPA Administrator, Lisa P. Jackson:

As part of the Obama Administration’s continuing commitment to open government, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published the latest data on industrial releases and transfers of toxic chemicals in the United States between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009. EPA is making the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data available within weeks of the reporting deadline through its Web site and in the popular tools, TRI Explorer and Envirofacts. The database contains environmental release and transfer data on nearly 650 chemicals and chemical categories reported to EPA by more than 21,000 industrial and other facilities.

The new data is available here, and can be downloaded as raw data that you can analyze with a spreadsheet or database manager on your PC.  But most folks might prefer to look up their local chemical plant’s emissions via EPA’s TRI Explorer system here.

Jackson said:

It is vital that every community has access to information that impacts their health and environment.  The data we’re releasing provides critical insights about pollution and polluters in the places where people live, work, play and learn. Making that knowledge available is the first step in empowering communities to protect the environment in their areas.

EPA adds:

The preliminary dataset includes more than 80 percent of the data expected to be reported for 2009. EPA will continue to process paper submissions, late submissions, and to resolve issues with the electronic submissions. The agency will update the dataset in August and again in September so citizens will have complete access to the information. EPA encourages the public to review and analyze the data while EPA conducts its own analysis, which will be published later this year.

Creation of the TRI program has a close tie to West Virginia, as EPA explains here:

In 1984, a deadly cloud of methyl isocyanate killed thousands of people in Bhopal, India. Shortly thereafter, there was a serious chemical release at a sister plant in West Virginia. These incidents underscored demands by industrial workers and communities in several states for information on hazardous materials. Public interest and environmental organizations around the country accelerated demands for information on toxic chemicals being released “beyond the fence line” — outside of the facility. Against this background, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) was enacted in 1986.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 4:14 pm and is filed under Environment, Open government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.