EPA says fewer chemical releases in PNW

OLYMPIA — Fewer toxic chemicals were released into the environment in the Pacific Northwest over the last few years, according to an announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday.

In a press release, the EPA said total releases of chemicals in EPA Region 10 — which includes Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington — on the agency’s toxic release inventory were down 10% in 2020 from the previous year and 25% since 2011.

According to the EPA, companies in the region managed 978 million pounds of chemical waste and otherwise disposed of 701 million pounds in 2020, the most recent year the agency has published data for.

The figures do not include mines, the agency said. According to data on the EPA’s toxic release inventory website, companies in Alaska released 627.4 million pounds of waste in 2020.

By comparison, during the same period, companies in the state of Washington released 15.7 million pounds of waste from 303 facilities in 2020, according to the EPA.

The largest reported polluter in Washington is the U.S. Navy’s Bremerton and Kitsap bases, which reported combined releases of 1.9 million pounds in 2020. The largest reported private polluter was Lamb Weston’s Richland potato processing plant, which reported releases of roughly 1.7 million pounds, mostly of nitrates.

According to EPA, the agency reported waste releases at 11 facilities in Grant and Adams counties in 2020, including:

Five pounds of lead at Central Washington Concrete in Ephrata;

• 2,958 pounds of copper and nitrates at airbag explosive maker Joyson Safety Systems in Moses Lake;
• 25,449 pounds combined of hydrogen cyanide and ammonia at carbon-fiber maker SGL Carbon in Moses Lake;
• 41,842 pounds of methanol at chemical maker Moses Lake Industries;
• 33 pounds of naphthalene at Boeing’s operations at the Grant County International Airport;
• 2,423 pounds of lead at D&L Foundry in Moses Lake;
• 67 pounds nitric acid at REC Silicon in Moses Lake;
• 88 pounds of manganese compounds at Perfomix Nutrition System in Moses Lake;
• 74,570 pounds combined of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from J.R. Simplot in Moses Lake;
• 51,721 pounds of ammonia from J.R. Simplot in Othello.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com