The annual Toxics Release Inventory data report from Delaware’s industrial facilities as compiled by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Emergency Prevention and Response Section continued to show the state’s progress in reducing toxic releases into the environment.
TRI data from 2016 — the most recent year for which statistics are available — shows a decrease in on-site releases to land, air and water as compared to 2015 TRI figures.
Total on-site releases were down 27 percent in Delaware for 2016 — with releases to land down 24 percent, releases to air down 23 percent and releases to water down 27 percent. On-site releases represent a portion of total TRI reported waste. For 2016, less than 1 percent of the total-reported TRI waste was released on-site, while 2.7 percent was transferred off-site for treatment or disposal, and 96.5 percent was managed on-site through treatment, energy recovery and recycling operations by the facilities generating the waste. Total waste for 2016 was down 9 percent compared with 2015.
The full TRI 2016 report and data are available at bit.ly/2mvRFpW.