New report analyzes toxic-release reports to figure amount of chemical pollution in waterways

Industrial facilities were responsible for 226 million pounds of toxic chemicals in 1,400 American waterways in 2010, according to an Environment America study released last week. Forty percent of all toxic discharges into waterways come from Indiana, Virginia, Nebraska, Texas and Georgia, according to a press release. The organization analyzed toxic chemical release reports companies sent to the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA compiles the data into a Toxics Release Inventory that is searchable by location. (Environment America map)

The reports found that food and beverage manufacturing (including slaughterhouses and rendering plants), metals manufacturing, chemical plants and oil refineries are some of the biggest polluters. AK Steel, based in West Chester, Ohio, was responsible for the most pollution from a single source, at 30 million pounds. About 1.5 million pounds of carcinogens were discharged in 2010, including arsenic, chromium and benzene. Nitrates accounted for almost 90 percent of the total volume of discharges in 2010. The full report can be accessed here, and a summary can be found here.

EPA quietly plans to manage injection-well quakes

The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing recommendations for managing small earthquakes triggered by oil and natural-gas waste-injection wells, Mike Soraghan reports for EnergyWire. The agency hasn't publicized its efforts, but has discussed them with state officials, researchers and interest groups. Scientists have known for decades that injection wells can cause minor earthquakes, but a series of quakes last year in Arkansas and Ohio raised public concern. The natural gas boom has also increased the need for new injection wells. (EPA map: Region 6 injection-site earthquakes over time periods; click on image for larger version)

An EPA team, formally the Underground Injection Control National Technical Workgroup, is preparing the report, and an Ohio agency said it was "in press" last week. EPA officials at the Region 6 office in Dallas, which is handling the issue, declined to comment beyond saying, "EPA is working with states to develop recommendations and best practices to assess impacts to underground storage caused by seismic activity to assist state and EPA UIC programs."

EPA records show there are about 150,000 "Class II" injection wells across the country, Soraghan reports. There are about 500,000 other types of injection wells where nonhazardous waste is stored. "The Safe Drinking Water Act empowers EPA to regulate underground injection. But EPA often hands day-to-day regulation of it to states, including Arkansas and Ohio," Soraghan reports. The earthquake study began quietly in June, and Soraghan reports "The plan was to partner with state regulators and scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, and solicit peer review at the end, according to the presentation slides. The presentation also noted that EPA's national study of hydraulic fracturing excludes examination of earthquakes." (Read more)

Small earthquakes 'almost certainly' caused by drilling wastewater injection, Ohio officials say

Backing up a geologist's opinion, Ohio state regulators said Friday that a dozen small earthquakes in the northeastern part of the state were "almost certainly" caused by the injection of natural-gas drilling wastewater into the earth, Julie Smith of The Associated Press reports. The regulators also announced "a series of tough new rules for drillers," including submission of more comprehensive geological data when requesting a drill site, and electronically tracking the chemical makeup of all drilling wastewater.

The state Department of Natural Resources said the earthquakes in the Youngstown area were based on "a number of coincidental circumstances:" The drilling began three months before the first quakes, seismic activity was clustered around the well bore, and a fault has since been identified in the deepest, oldest bedrock where water was being injected." Geologists believe it is very difficult for all conditions to be met to induce seismic events," the report states. "In fact, all the evidence indicates that properly located ... injection wells will not cause earthquakes."

Experts told Smith earthquakes have long been linked to energy exploration and production. "They point to recent earthquakes in the magnitude 3 and 4 range -- not big enough to cause much damage, but big enough to be felt -- in Arkansas, Texas, California, England, Germany and Switzerland" as being linked to wastewater injection, Smith reports. Improper placement of the Youngstown well stemmed from inadequate geological data, which official should be fixed in the future by the new regulations. (Read more)

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/03/09/2102278/apnewsbreak-gas-drilling-waste.html#storylink=cpy

EPA offers resources for environmental reporters

The Environmental Protection Agency has made several online resources available for reporters to "help generate or confirm stories" and save time, the Society of Environmental Journalists reports.

Cleanups in My Community: Through a street address or ZIP code search, reporters can learn which facilities in their community are subject to EPA's Superfund, Brownfields or Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, solid or hazardous waste) cleanup programs, SEJ reports.

RadNet: Reporters can access the national network of over 200 radiation monitoring stations across the U.S.

Discharge Monitoring Report Pollutant Loading Tool: This tool gives reporters "better estimates of the pollutant load on a particular body of water" and "makes it easier . . . to assess whether current pollution restrictions will actually result in water quality improvements," SEJ reports.

AirNow: This tool provides "copyright-free daily local forecasts, maps, and air pollution measurements that work really well online," SEJ reports.