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Toxics Release Inventory

Companies report waste quantities and toxic releases to land, air, and water to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) administers this program for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington state.   

The trend graph here begins with 2001, the first year of data collected under TRI using lower persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) reporting thresholds. Prior to 2000, a facility that manufactured or processed more than 25,000 pounds of a chemical or “otherwise used” more than 10,000 pounds would report under TRI.  Beginning in 2000, the EPA lowered the reporting threshold for certain PBT chemicals like mercury to 10 pounds. 

Mercury and Its Compounds offers more information on the chemical nature of mercury. 

Before the 2001 reporting change, only one company, a paper mill with a chlor-alkali plant, reported mercury releases. This company retired their chlor-alkali facility in 2000, and several new facilities began to report under the new rules. Therefore, the graph displays data for 2001 – 2006. 

The spike in 2005 came from one-time-only waste during the shutdown of the gold mine in Ferry County.  Otherwise, industrial releases of mercury have generally declined.

Related information

TRI Explorer at the EPA allows searches data by state, facility, chemical, and reporting year.
TRI search engine The customized EPA search engine can indicate how the mercury was generated (e.g., byproduct, formulation component, etc.).
Department of Ecology Publications on the topic of the Toxics Release Inventory
Chemicals in Washington State Summary - 2004 Tier Two and Toxics Release Inventory report for 2004 includes information on hazardous substances and chemical activity (transport, storage, releases, etc.) in Washington State.
Pollution Prevention Manufacturers work to reduce the amount of pollution they create, often with technical assistance from Ecology.
Historical Uses of Mercury