quantities as well as movement up the waste management hierarchy. Futureyear estimates are not commitments that facilities reporting under TRI are required to meet. Exhibit 16 shows that the petroleum refining industry managed about 1.6 billion pounds of production-related waste (total quantity of TRI chemicals in the waste from routine production operations) in 1993 (column B). Column C reveals that of this production-related waste, 30 percent was either transferred off-site or released to the environment. Column C is calculated by dividing the total TRI transfers and releases by the total quantity of production-related waste. In other words, about 70 percent of the industry's TRI wastes were managed on-site through recycling, energy recovery, or treatment as shown in columns E, F and G, respectively. The majority of waste that is released or transferred off-site can be divided into portions that are recycled off-site, recovered for energy off-site, or treated off-site as shown in columns H, I and J, respectively. The remaining portion of the production related wastes (4 percent), shown in column D, is either released to the environment through direct discharges to air, land, water, and underground injection, or it is disposed of off-site. Exhibit 16: Source Reduction and Recycling Activity for Petroleum Industry (SIC 2911) as Reported within TRI a Within this industry sector, non-production related waste < 1 percent of production related wastes for 1993. b Total TRI transfers and releases as reported in Sections 5 and 6 of Form R as a percentage of production related wastes. c Percentage of production related waste released to the environment and transferred off-site for disposal. IV. CHEMICAL RELEASE AND TRANSFER PROFILE This section is designed to provide background information on the pollutant releases that are reported by this industry. The best source of comparative pollutant release information is the Toxic Release Inventory System (TRI). Pursuant to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, TRI includes self-reported facility release and transfer data for over 600 toxic chemicals. Facilities within SIC Codes 20 through 39 (manufacturing industries) that have more than 10 employees, and that are above weightbased reporting thresholds are required to report TRI on-site releases and offsite transfers. The information presented within the sector notebooks is derived from the most recently available (1993) TRI reporting year, and focuses primarily on the on-site releases reported by each sector. Because TRI requires consistent reporting regardless of sector, it is an excellent tool for drawing comparisons across industries. TRI Data Limitations Although this sector notebook does not present historical information regarding TRI chemical releases over time, please note that in general, toxic chemical releases have been declining. In fact, according to the 1993 Toxic Release Inventory Data Book, reported releases dropped by 42.7 percent between 1988 and 1993. Although on-site releases have decreased, the total amount of reported toxic waste has not declined because the amount of toxic chemicals transferred off-site has increased. Transfers have increased from 3.7 billion pounds in 1991 to 4.7 billion pounds in 1993. Better management practices have led to increases in off-site transfers of toxic chemicals for recycling. More detailed information can be obtained from EPA's annual Toxics Release Inventory Public Data Release book (which is available through the EPCRA Hotline at 800-535-0202), or directly from the Toxic Release Inventory System database (for user support call 202-260-1531). Wherever possible, the sector notebooks present TRI data as the primary indicator of chemical release within each industrial category. TRI data provide the type, amount and media receptor of each chemical released or transferred. When other sources of pollutant release data have been obtained, these data have been included to augment the TRI information. The reader should keep in mind the following limitations regarding TRI data. Within some sectors, the majority of facilities are not subject to TRI reporting because they are not considered manufacturing industries, or because they are below TRI reporting thresholds. Examples are the mining, dry cleaning, printing, and transportation equipment cleaning sectors. For these sectors, release information from other sources has been included. Sector Notebook Project Petroleum Refining The reader should also be aware that TRI "pounds released" data presented within the notebooks is not equivalent to a "risk" ranking for each industry. Weighting each pound of release equally does not factor in the relative toxicity of each chemical that is released. The Agency is in the process of developing an approach to assign toxicological weightings to each chemical released so that one can differentiate between pollutants with significant differences in toxicity. As a preliminary indicator of the environmental impact of the industry's most commonly released chemicals, the notebook briefly summarizes the toxicological properties of the top chemicals (by weight) reported by each industry. Definitions Associated with Section IV Data Tables General Definitions - SIC Code is the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) is a statistical classification standard used for all establishment-based Federal economic statistics. The SIC codes facilitate comparisons between facility and industry data. TRI Facilities -- are manufacturing facilities that have 10 or more full-time employees and are above established chemical throughput thresholds. Manufacturing facilities are defined as facilities in Standard Industrial Classification primary codes 20 to 39. Facilities must submit estimates for all chemicals that are on the EPA's defined list and are above throughput thresholds. Data Table Column Heading Definitions The following definitions are based upon standard definitions developed by EPA's Toxic Release Inventory Program. The categories below represent the possible pollutant destinations that can be reported. - RELEASES are an on-site discharge of a toxic chemical to the environment. This includes emissions to the air, discharges to bodies of water, releases at the facility to land, as well as contained disposal into underground injection wells. - Releases to Air (Point and Fugitive Air Emissions) Include all air emissions from industry activity. Point emission occur through confined air streams as found in stacks, ducts, or pipes. Fugitive emissions include losses from equipment leaks, or evaporative losses from impoundments, spills, or leaks. Releases to Water (Surface Water Discharges) -- encompass any releases going directly to streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, or other bodies of water. Any estimates for stormwater runoff and non-point losses must also be included. Releases to Land -- includes disposal of toxic chemicals in waste to on-site landfills, land treated or incorporation into soil, surface impoundments, spills, leaks, or waste piles. These activities must occur within the facility's boundaries for inclusion in this category. Underground Injection -- is a contained release of a fluid into a subsurface well for the purpose of waste disposal. TRANSFERS -- is a transfer of toxic chemicals in wastes to a facility that is geographically or physically separate from the facility reporting under TRI. The quantities reported represent a movement of the chemical away from the reporting facility. Except for off-site transfers for disposal, these quantities do not necessarily represent entry of the chemical into the environment. Transfers to POTWs -- are wastewaters transferred through pipes or sewers to a publicly owned treatments works (POTW). Treatment and chemical removal depend on the chemical's nature and treatment methods used. Chemicals not treated or destroyed by the POTW are generally released to surface waters or land filled within the sludge. Transfers to Recycling -- are sent off-site for the purposes of regenerating or recovering still valuable materials. Once these chemicals have been recycled, they may be returned to the originating facility or sold commercially. Transfers to Energy Recovery -- are wastes combusted off-site in industrial furnaces for energy recovery. Treatment of a chemical by incineration is not considered to be energy recovery. - Transfers to Treatment are wastes moved off-site for either neutralization, incineration, biological destruction, or physical separation. In some cases, the chemicals are not destroyed but prepared for further waste management. Transfers to Disposal -- are wastes taken to another facility for disposal generally as a release to land or as an injection underground. |
