EPA Reported Chemical Releases within 3 miles radius of my apartment complex

in Zip 97124

Introduction: There are several computer and technology manufacturers within walking distance of my apartment complex. I often notice odors emanating from these facilities and wondered what chemicals are being released into the air and how? And do these chemicals pose any threat to the surrounding residential areas?

Sources: All Data from www.EPA.govShapefiles: RLIS -Streets and ZipCodes, Oregon Geo-Spatial Database – Counties,

Methodology:1. The data was collected and downloaded from the EPA.gov website then saved as a .csv file in Excel. Fields and data were massaged in order to import properly into ArcMap. 2. Data collected was as follows: EPA Reported Chemical Releases ZipCode 97124, Waste Transfers for Further processing, Quantities of Waste treated and/or disposed of On and Off site and list of EPA Regulated Facilities.2. The data was then added to ArcMap and Geocoded using the RLIS Streets address coder referencing -Address, City, State and Zip. 3. Buffers at 1, 2, 3 miles from apartment complex added for visual effects.4. No other operations where done on the shapefiles.

Donnych Diaz GEOG 588 Winter 2009

Methodology:1. The Release data was used to map those facilities regulated by the EPA -

points. 2. Total waste management and Fugitive Air Emissions were mapped using

graduated symbols for settings ranges to the data.3. The Waste Transfer, combined Waste Transfer and Total Waste Management

and the Fugitive vs. Point Source Air emissions were mapped using pie charts to represent the data.

4. A chart of the Human Health Hazard and Total Health Hazards scores was provided from Excel.

EPA Reported Chemical Releases

EPA Reported Chemical Releases Results:

1. The EPA has 130 regulated sites reporting to it from ZipCode 97124. Of those, only 10 reported chemical releases for the period up to October 2007. 2. For those reporting releases the Chemicals reported were as follows:

• AMMONIA - Approximately 83% (as of 2003) of ammonia is used as fertilizers mainly commercial uses• CERTAIN GLYCOL ETHERS - are a group of solvents based on alkyl ethers of ethylene glycol commonly used in

paints.• COPPER - It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity.• COPPER COMPOUNDS - For chemical compounds containing copper. • ETHYLENE GLYCOL - a chemical compound widely used as an automotive antifreeze.• HYDROGEN FLUORIDE - HF is widely used in the petrochemical industry and a component of many superacids .

Upon contact with moisture, including tissue, hydrogen fluoride immediately converts to hydrofluoric acid, which is highly corrosive and toxic.• LEAD - Lead is used in building construction, lead-acid batteries, bullets and shot, weights, and is part of solder,

pewter, fusible alloys and radiation shields.• LEAD COMPOUNDS - Any compound containing Lead• METHANOL - At room temperature it is a polar liquid and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a

denaturant for ethanol. • NITRATE COMPOUNDS - Any compound containing Nitrate (a Nitrate is a salt of nitric acid)• NITRIC ACID - Is a highly corrosive and toxic strong acid that can cause severe burns.• N-METHYL-2-PYRROLIDONE - NMP is mainly used as a solvent for extraction in the petrochemical industry, as a

reactive medium in polymeric and non-polymeric chemical reactions, as a remover of graffiti, as a paint stripper in the occupational setting, and for stripping and cleaning applications in the microelectronics fabrication industry.• TOLUENE - It is an aromatic hydrocarbon that is widely used as an industrial feedstock and as a solvent.

Results cont’d: The majority of the chemicals reported are for the most part treated on site or transferred to either Off-site treatment, recycling or energy recovery.The number and quantities of chemicals Air borne via fugitive emissions was higher than expected especially for sites that reported Methanol. The chemicals with the higher Human Health Hazard ratings were treated or recycled at or near 100%.

Conclusion:Although some of the Chemicals reported have known human and environmental health risks, looking at the rates, treatment, disposal and transfer methodologies of the chemicals, I feel confident that the risk is limited, but not all together eliminated. As long as there are “Fugitive” air emissions, there is still a risk to those within the 3 mile radius of this study of inhaling these chemicals. Data on PPM& PPB(Parts per Million/Billion) on the concentration of these chemicals in the air is the next step in this analysis, but not provided here.

EPA Reported Chemical Releases

The University of Tennessee's Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies has developed a hazard evaluation system for TRI chemicals that produces separate rankings for ecological effects and human health effects, as well as a total hazard score that integrates information about a chemical's toxicity to humans and ecosystems with information about chemical characteristics that influence the likelihood of exposure to a substance.

WHAT DO THE SCORES MEAN? UTN human health effects scores indicate how a chemical compares with others in terms of its capacity to harm human health. The graphic shows where a compound's hazard score falls relative to all chemicals that have been ranked using this system, indicating whether it is more or less hazardous than most chemicals. Chemicals that score at the far right end of the scale are significantly more hazardous (in the worst 10% of all chemicals according to this scoring system).

All chemicals scored by a system have been placed in "bins" defined by percentiles (e.g., a chemical's score is in the least toxic 25% of chemicals scored by a system). The graphic illustrates which bin a chemical falls in according to each scoring system in Scorecard. Looking across these different systems, it is possible to identify chemicals that consistently score as high or low hazards, as well as chemicals that score high on some measures (such as human health hazards) but low on others (such as ecological hazards).

Source: http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/hazard-indicators.tcl?edf_substance_id=108-88-3

AMMONIA

CERTA

IN GLYCOL E

THER

S

COPPER

ETHYLE

NE GLYC

OL

HYDROGEN

FLUORIDE

LEAD

METHANOL

NITRATE

COMPOUNDS

NITRIC ACID

N-MET

HYL-2-PYR

ROLIDONE

TOLU

ENE

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Chemical Human and Total Hazard Scores

HumnHlthScoreTtlHazScore

Chemical

Chemical Ranking

Fugitive and Point Air Emissions Fugitive air emissions are all releases to air that are not released through a

confined air stream. Fugitive emissions include equipment leaks, evaporative losses from surface impoundments and spills, and releases from building ventilation systems. Data from Section 5.1 on the TRI Form R.

Stack or point source air emissions occur through confined air streams such as stack, vents, ducts, or pipes. Data from Section 5.2 on the TRI Form R.

Source: www.epa.gov

Thank you.Any Questions?