As we wrapped up the Toxic Release Inventory (Form R) reporting for the year, curiosity got me as to how this program came about. So, I decided to refresh my memory and dive back into my college years during which I studied Environmental Management at Indiana University.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a great website filled with amazing resources and content. However, in looking for detailed information on the history of a specific regulation, they tend to provide only a summary -- presumably to allow space for more current resources.
This is the EPA version of how TRI came to be:
On December 2, 1984, a cloud of extremely toxic methyl isocyanate gas escaped from a Union Carbide Chemical plant in Bhopal, India. Thousands of people died that night in what is widely considered to be the worst industrial disaster in history. Thousands more died later as a result of their exposure, and survivors continue to suffer from permanent disabilities.
The incident raised public concern about toxic chemical storage, releases, and emergency response. It led to the passage of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) under the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. Section 313 of EPCRA established the Toxics Release Inventory.
Boom! There you have it…explained, right? Yeah, not so much.
Here’s the more detailed -- but not too wordy -- version of what happened… But, before I get into the aftermath of this catastrophic event, let’s discuss what led to it.
On Sunday, December 2, the 100 workers on the late shift at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) facility in Bhopal, India were in the process of making the pesticide Sevin. This involved mixing carbon tetrachloride, methyl isocyanate (MIC), and alpha-naphthol.
While most of the one million residents of Bhopal slept, at 11:00 p.m. a plant operator noticed a small leak of MIC gas and increasing pressure inside a storage tank.
In a settlement mediated by the Indian Supreme Court, Union Carbide Corporation accepted moral responsibility and agreed to pay $470 million to the Indian government to be distributed to claimants as a full and final settlement. By the end of October 2014, according to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, compensation (~$486,101,760) had been awarded to 574,366 people (dependents of the deceased, seriously injured, permanently disabled, cancer and kidney patients, and temporally disabled people). This averages out to approximately $846.33 per person.
This disaster cast a spotlight on the urgent need for enforceable international standards for environmental safety, preventative strategies to avoid similar accidents, and help ensure industrial disaster preparedness.
Enter the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) and Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).
TRI tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. U.S. facilities in different industry sectors must report annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment. (A "release" of a chemical means that it is emitted to the air or water, or placed in some type of land disposal.)
https://www.britannica.com/event/Bhopal-disaster
https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/what-toxics-release-inventory
https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-4-6
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/explosion-kills-2000-at-pesticide-plant
Cassie Lee is an Account Manager for Cornerstone Environmental, Health and Safety out of our Zionsville office. She also dabbles in social media marketing, website development, candid newsletter writing, animated videos and brochure making. Her side hustle is raising three boys (#BoyMom) and three dogs while grasping at straws to maintain her last shred of sanity.