Newspaper logo  
 
 
Bookmark and Share
Local News & Opinion

Ref.: Civic Events

Ref.: Arts & Education Events

Ref.: Public Service Notices

Travel
Books, Films, Arts & Education

02.12 FiveBooks Interviews > Lorraine Adams on The Truth Behind the Headlines

Letters

Ref. : Letters to the editor

Health Care & Environment

02.10 LET’S REMAKE THE WAY WE MAKE THINGS

02.09 Obama shouldn’t compromise on birth control with GOP, religious leaders or an unpopular Congress - video

02.09 Cancer rates triple among New York police officers who responded to 9/11

02.08 The seed emergency: The threat to food and democracy

02.07 Bill Gates backs climate scientists lobbying for large-scale geoengineering

02.04 Your Day at the Beach Could Soon Lead to a Night at the Hospital

02.03 Obama Won't Touch Climate With a 10-Foot Pole

02.03 Komen reverses decision to cut Planned Parenthood funding

02.03 Reforming EU Deep-Sea Fisheries Management

02.02 Obama’s Support for Natural Gas Drilling "A Painful Moment" for Communities Exposed to Fracking- video

02.02 By defunding Planned Parenthood, the Susan G Komen Foundation betrays women

02.02 Ohio Tries to Escape Fate as a Dumping Ground for Fracking Fluid

Ref. Dollars for Doctors - How Industry Money Reaches Physicians

Ref. 2010 Comparative Price Report Medical and Hospital Fees by Country - Graphics

Ref. Health at a Glance 2011 - OECD Indicators

Ref. : Why is Healthcare Absurdly Expensive in USA (Part 2) [Graphics] (Part 1 is here)

Video Health Care Systems in Less Corrupt Countries

“News” Media

02.07 Did Obama make the economy worse? Not according to most statistics

02.03 Media Watch: CNN's Erin Burnett regurgitates right-wing talking points to scare retired people - video

02.02 ABC's Iran Propaganda

02.02 The Ongoing “Foxification” of the Wall Street Journal

Daily The Daily Howler

Justice Matters

02.05 Why the AGs Must Not Settle: Robo-signing Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

02.04 THE CAGING OF AMERICA

02.03 Senate Votes To Ban Its Members From Insider Trading... Kind Of

US Politics, Policy & Culture

02.12 Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It - Interactive Map: Where Americans Most Depend on Government Benefits

02.12 CPAC attendees more focused on the economy than their right-wing leaders - video

02.10 The Cancer in Occupy

02.10 How Opus Dei Influenced Rick Santorum

02.10 People Are Not Leaving the Labor Force

02.09 Obama, Explained

02.09 OPED: The White Underclass

02.09 EDITORIAL: A Terrible Transportation Bill

02.09 THE OBAMA MEMOS

02.06 Are Conservatives More Fearful Than Liberals?

02.04 Soaking the Poor, State by State

02.04 Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian's Rosy Outlook On The Future of Politics

02.03 SUPERBOWL XLVI: Are You Ready for Some Football???

02.03 Buffett rules: Sheldon Whitehouse introduces the Paying a Fair Share Act - video

02.02 Secrecy Shrouds ‘Super PAC’ Funds in Latest Filings

02.02 Steve Israel condemns GOP Keystone XL ‘stunt,’ cheers Democratic Drive to 25 to reclaim the House - video

02.01 Rich Patrons Are Major Source of Romney’s Cash

High Crimes?
Economics, Gov't. & Business

02.10 This is no bailout for Main Street America

02.10 Why the Foreclosure Deal May Not Be So Hot After All

02.10 Matt Taibbi assesses the $26 billion settlement designed to aid victims of foreclosure fraud - video

02.10 Foreclosure Deal to Spur U.S. Home Seizures

02.08 Banks Paying Homeowners to Avoid Foreclosures

02.07 App Stores Create 500,000 U.S. Jobs

02.07 The Payroll Tax Fight

02.07 Obama super PAC decision: President blesses fundraising for Priorities USA Action

02.06 How Privatizing Government Shovels Cash to Parasitic Corporations and Undermines Democracy

02.05 We’re More Unequal Than You ThinkGraphic: Unequal rise in income

02.03 PRIVATE INEQUITY

02.02 The New American Divide

02.02 American Airlines proposes to end all four pension plans

02.01 Economics 101

Ref. We’re More Unequal Than You ThinkGraphic: Unequal rise in income

International

02.03 What the Occupy movement must learn from Sundance

02.02 US plans to halt Afghan combat role early surprise Kabul

We are a non-profit Internet-only newspaper publication founded in 1973. Your donation is essential to our survival.

You can also mail a check to:
Baltimore News Network, Inc.
P.O. Box 42581
Baltimore, MD 21284-2581
Google
This site Web
  Md. Attorney General Joins Other State AGs in Backing Public's Right to Know About Toxic Chemicals

State News:

Md. Attorney General Joins Other State AGs in Backing Public's Right to Know About Toxic Chemicals

SOURCE: Office of the Attorney General, State of Maryland
The EPA is proposing regulations that would sharply reduce the amount of information available to the public about toxic chemicals released by industry in communities across the nation.
Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran joined other state Attorneys General on Jan. 13 to call on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw proposed regulations that would sharply reduce the amount of information available to the public about toxic chemicals released by industry in communities across the nation. The Attorneys General submitted detailed written comments challenging the legality of proposed EPA regulations that would scale back the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).

"The Toxics Release Inventory puts chemical release information in the hands of the public and allows communities to engage in an educated dialogue with their industrial neighbors, and this kind of communication is beneficial to us all," said Curran in a prepared statement to the press.

After the 1984 deadly release of toxic chemicals at the Union Carbide facility in Bhopal, India, Congress responded by establishing the Toxics Release Inventory. TRI is a federal computerized database that provides information on the type and quantity of toxic chemicals released into the air, water and soil. The bill was signed into law by President Reagan and data has been collected and made available to the public since 1987. Industrial facilities are required to report information to the EPA annually, which is then compiled into a public report.

Disclosure of public information about toxic releases has brought about significant reductions in the release of toxic chemicals across the nation. For example, the Boeing Company reduced its toxic chemical releases by more than 82 percent since 1991; Monsanto reduced its toxic air emissions by more than 90 percent between 1988 and 1992. The Eastman Chemical Company of Tennessee has reduced its releases of TRI chemicals by 83 percent since 1988.

The EPA, however, is now proposing changes that would, according to the state attorneys general, significantly weaken the TRI in the following ways:

  • It would raise the baseline reporting threshold for chemical releases from the current 500 pounds to 5,000 pounds.

  • It would reduce the reporting for some of the most dangerous toxic chemicals --those that are persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic, a category that includes lead, mercury and PCBs.

  • It would consider cutting the requirement to report toxic chemical releases from once a year to once every two years.
The Attorneys General believe that such changes would significantly reduce the amount of toxic chemical release information available to the public. Densely populated neighborhoods are especially at risk. A community in western New York, Tonawanda, is an example of the possible effects of these changes. In one Tonawanda neighborhood with 45,000 people, environmental releases of 8,100 pounds of neurotoxic chemicals, 3,100 pounds of chemicals that may cause respiratory problems, 2,300 pounds of chemicals that cause developmental problems and 650 pounds of chemicals that may cause blood disorders could go unreported under the proposed weaker EPA regulation.
Other participating attorneys general who are joining in the protest to the EPA are: New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Iowa Attorney General Thomas J. Miller, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly, New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte, New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey, New Mexico Attorney General Patricia A. Madrid, Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell, Wisconsin Attorney General Peggy A. Lautenschlager.

For more information, visit the Maryland Attorney General's website.



Copyright © 2006 The Baltimore Chronicle. All rights reserved.

Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

This story was published on January 20, 2006.

 


Public Service Ads:
Verifiable Voting in Maryland