Department of Environmental Conservation disagrees with EPA report on toxic releases
SPECIAL TO THE ALASKA MINER Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conser- vation is disputing a recent release of the annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis for 2017 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which provides an inaccurate picture of the chemi- cal releases into Alaska’s environment. Substances are placed on the TRI list based on _SPT] [Z_PY_TLW _Z NL`^P LOaP]^P PʬPN_^ _Z S`XLY health or the environment. However, the TRI data LWZYPOZYZ_]PʮPN_LN_`LWPc[Z^`]P^Z]]T^V[Z^PO by releases, since almost all of the releases are regu- lated under permit conditions designed to limit hu- man and environmental exposure. “Nearly all of the reported releases in Alaska con- sist of rock and low-grade mineral ore that are dis- posed of in state-permitted and monitored disposal sites, engineered to prevent harm to the environ- ment and human health,” said Department of Envi-
ronmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune. ɭ-TRXTYP^WTVP=PO/ZRXZaPL^TRYTʭNLY_LXZ`Y_ of material as part of their daily operations, but such actions do not adversely impact human health and the environment. Characterizing such releases as toxic is disingenuous at best.” Since 1998, when metal mining was added to the TRI, over 99 percent of Alaska’s reported releases have consisted of naturally occurring trace minerals found in rock and low-grade mineral ore excavated from mine sites. Much of the reportable mineral content is stable and non-reactive or safely bound in the host rock. For releases from all industries other than those characterized from the movement of rock and low- grade mineral ore in metal mining, Alaska ranks amongst the lowest in the nation. More information is available at the department’s website: dec.alaska.gov.
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April 2019
The Alaska Miner
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