Report: Polluters dumped ~200 million lbs. of toxics into waterways

Media Contacts
Maryland
Emily Kowalski

Environment Illinois Research & Policy Center Field Organizer
[email protected]


Alaska

Georgia

Massachusetts
Ben Hellerstein

State Director, Environment Massachusetts Research & Policy Center


New Jersey
Doug O'Malley

State Director, Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center


North Carolina
Katie Craig

State Director, NCPIRG Education Fund


Oregon

Texas
Luke Metzger

Executive Director, Environment Texas Research & Policy Center


Virginia

Washington
Nicole Walter

Former Advocate, WashPIRG Foundation


Pennsylvania
Ashleigh Deemer

Former Deputy Director, PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center


National
Sean Hoffmann

Former Federal Legislative Advocate, Environment America

BOSTON – Polluters in just 10 states account for more than half of the 193.6 million pounds of toxic substances discharged into U.S. waterways in 2020, according to a new report released Wednesday by Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund. As documented in Wasting Our Waterways: Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act, this toxic pollution flowed into roughly one in every three local watersheds across the United States and included many chemicals linked to cancer and other serious health risks.
 
“America’s waterways should be clean – for swimming, fishing, providing drinking water and supporting wildlife,” said John Rumpler, senior director of Environment America Research & Policy Center’s clean water program and a co-author of the report. “But all too often, polluters are allowed to use our rivers as open sewers. As the Clean Water Act turns 50, it’s time to turn the tide on this toxic pollution.” 
 
The groups’ report, which recommends several steps to reduce toxic pollution of our waterways, is based on data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Polluters self-report their discharge of toxics to surface waters to the TRI. Using 2020 data, the study found that:

  • Polluters in 10 states—Texas, Indiana, Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois—accounted for more than half of the toxic substances (by weight) spewed into our waterways. (The report also shows the states where polluters’ releases rank highest for toxicity.)
  • Facilities dumped more than 1 million pounds of cancer-causing chemicals – such as arsenic, chromium, and benzene – into America’s waterways. Texas’ Austin-Oyster watershed received the largest volume of carcinogens.
  • Nitrates accounted for more than 90% of toxic releases to waterways by weight. Nitrates are linked to health risks and also contribute to dead zones and toxic algal outbreaks. Slaughterhouses and meat processing plants are significant sources of nitrate pollution.
  • Well-known companies own or operate many of the facilities with the most significant toxic releases in each state. (See charts in Appendix B of the report.)
  • When measured by toxicity, the top polluting facilities included mining and metals manufacturers, chemical plants, and power plants.

Even more toxic pollution flows into American waterways, as TRI reporting does not include runoff pollution, oil and gas extraction, or most types of “forever chemicals” (otherwise known as PFAS).

“The data on toxic dumping into our waterways is shocking, but it is only the tip of the iceberg,” says Tony Dutzik, Associate Director and Senior Policy Analyst with Frontier Group and a co-author of the report. “Too often, releases of toxic chemicals — even highly dangerous substances like PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ — go unreported to the public. It’s time for that to change.”

Advocates and scientists are concerned about the cumulative effects of toxic substances on human health and the environment.

“A half-century after the Clean Water Act took effect, it’s outrageous that our children aren’t guaranteed a toxic-free future,” said Matt Casale, director of U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s environment campaigns and a co-author of the report. “Polluters too often recklessly dispose of chemicals linked to cancer, developmental harm to children, and reproductive damage. It’s time to stop this toxic dumping.”
 
A few of the report’s recommendations are already gaining traction. For example, the EPA is considering updated pollution controls for slaughterhouses, and several states have restricted the use of PFAS and other chemicals. However, with the U.S. Supreme Court slated to hear a case on the scope of the Clean Water Act on October 3, advocates are concerned that many waterways could lose their federal protections from pollution.

“We should be doing more to protect our rivers and streams, not sliding backward,” said Rumpler. “Fifty years on, the promise of the Clean Water Act is at stake.”

The report found that industrial facilities dumped at least 94,000 pounds of toxic chemicals, including PFAS, into Maryland’s waterways in 2020. 

The Maryland Department of Environment has found toxic PFAS in drinking water. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there is no safe level of these so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water and exposure to PFAS, even in small amounts over time, has been linked to serious health effects including cancer, thyroid disruption and reduced vaccine response. PFAS have been nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in our bodies or the environment.

Companies were exempt from reporting many PFAS chemicals until 2020. In early 2022, three national advocacy organizations sued to force the EPA to investigate possible non-compliance with PFAS reporting requirements based on unexpectedly low numbers of facilities reporting PFAS use, unexpectedly low numbers of total PFAS chemicals used, and unexpectedly low amounts of PFAS released to the environment.

“Marylanders have a right to know about releases of toxic chemicals, like PFAS, in our waterways,” said Upper Potomac Riverkeeper Brent Walls. “When these chemicals pollute our waters, they pollute oysters, fish and crabs, and ultimately, our bodies.”

Additional Maryland specific findings of the report include:

  • Industrial facilities dumped 94,000 pounds of toxic chemicals into Maryland’s waterways.
  • Polluters dumped 6.2 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the Brandywine-Christina Watershed in neighboring Delaware and Pennsylvania, the third-highest volume dumped into any watershed in the country.
  • The facility releasing the most toxic chemicals in Maryland was Grace Davison-Curtis Bay Works in Baltimore, which emitted 79,000 pounds of chemicals into the Gunpowder-Patapsco watershed.

 

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