TRI chemicals are toxic chemicals whose release must be reported to the EPA<\/a>. There are currently 755 listed TRI chemicals<\/a>. The annual TRI analysis tracks the management of toxic substances at the state and national levels.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t DEC Commissioner Jason Brune said in a release the EPA’s numbers don’t tell the whole story of what’s happening in Alaska.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t That’s because the vast majority — 970.6 million pounds, more than 99% — of Alaska’s releases are land releases connected to metal mining, and Brune argues that unearthed rocks moved to a different part of the mining site don’t have a significant impact on public health and should not be qualified as a toxic release.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “Big mines like Red Dog<\/a> (near Kotzebue) move a significant amount of material as part of their daily operations, but such actions do not adversely impact human health and the environment,” Brune said in a release. “Characterizing such releases as toxic is disingenuous at best.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t However, that’s not everyone’s impression of the annual analysis.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t David Chambers, founder and president of the Montana-based Center for Science in Public Participation<\/a>, a nonprofit that provides assistance on mining and water quality to public interest groups and tribal governments, find TRI analysis to be fair and useful.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “I think EPA’s critique of releasing all these metals is legitimate,” Chambers said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t [House-passed bill could lead to PFAS cleanup<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t He said it’s tough to characterize unearthing rocks containing toxic chemicals and moving them to another location as anything other than a release that creates the potential for harmful materials to enter the environment.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “If you let them loose they can be a real problem,” Chambers said. “That’s basically what mining does to these metallic elements.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t With this year’s report, the EPA published a new guide with the 2018 TRI National Analysis to help explain metal mining data. The EPA was unable to respond to a request for comment in time for the publication of this article.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t The guide notes that because large mines relocate millions of tons of excavated waste rock, the reported quantity of chemicals can be quite large, and it acknowledges TRI data is not in itself enough to determine the level if any of public exposure to toxic chemicals.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t In Alaska, Red Dog Operations accounted for more than 90% — about 885.7 million pounds — of the state’s releases, according to the EPA’s figures, but it wasn’t the only mining company in the top five. The entirety of the top five releasers in Alaska were mining projects, according to the analysis. Red Dog was trailed by Hecla Greens Creek Mining Co. at about 55.6 million pounds, Fort Knox Mine at about 19.5 million pounds, Pogo Mine at about 7.9 million pounds, and Couer Alaska Inc Kensington Gold Project at about 2.3 million pounds.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t![\"EPA:](\"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20512622_web1_2Toxics-JUE-200212_1.jpg\")
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