EPA seeks Toxics Release Inventory expansion

October 28th, 2015 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

Natural gas processing plants may soon have to report the amount of toxic emissions they produce - the same as many other industries. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to propose new environmental regulations requiring natural gas processing facilities to report the amount of benzene, formaldehyde, hexane and other harmful chemicals released into the environment. According to StateImpact, this comes after the Environmental Integrity Project and 17 other environmental groups asked the EPA to add these plants to the list of facilities required to report their emissions to the Toxics Release Inventory, a public database.

Citing data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Center for Effective Government reported the hundreds of plants across the country processed 19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2014. More than half of these facilities would qualify for the reporting requirements the EPA plans to propose.

"The oil and gas industry releases an enormous amount of toxic pollutants every year, second only to power plants in emissions," Adam Kron, attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project, told the Center for Effective Government.

Environmentalist praise the EPA's efforts
Kron said the EPA's move to propose reporting requirements for these facilities is a step in the right direction as the Toxics Release Inventory educates communities on toxic chemicals near them and informs their decisions in the future.

The Center for Effective Government reported Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator, said the forthcoming EPA proposal would improve public information, which was the overall point of the Toxics Release Inventory when it was established in 1986. According to StateImpact, McCarthy also said there are some 25 hazardous chemicals natural gas companies would report that are listed in the Toxics Release Inventory.

The Center for Effective Government reported data from the EPA that estimated industrial facilities release 127,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants each year. Power plants are the largest producers of these releases, with the oil and gas extraction industry the second-largest contributor.

Environmental protection leaders stand behind the EPA, claiming this forthcoming proposal of new environmental regulations will help the public make the right decisions when it comes to holding politicians accountable for the state of the environment. While many environmentalists are happy, some still felt the EPA is leaving out important facilities from the Toxics Release Inventory, such as well sites, compressor stations, pipelines, and other small facilities employing less than 10 people, according to the Center for Effective Government.