Newly released EPA information on toxic air emissions shows that electric utilities are the biggest polluters in the US - far outstripping industries such as chemical manufacturing and refining. Utilities claim that their toxic releases - while large in the aggregate - pose no threat to the public. However, neither the electric utilities nor EPA have examined potential long-term risk to children, the elderly, and people with respiratory illnesses. Both EPA and the electric utility industry have also failed to analyze the impact of power plant toxic chemical emissions on particulate pollution, an enormous public health concern.

The Toxic Release Inventory, or TRI, is our nation's premiere database of information on how much toxic air, water and land pollution is released each year by various industries. A serious gap in this compendium was recently closed when, after years of resistance, coal- and oil-burning electric utilities were finally forced to disclose their air, land and water pollution. When EPA released the newest data to the public in May 2000, electric utilities instantly became known as the biggest toxic air polluters in the U.S.

This report is the first in-depth analysis of the quantity and nature of coal- and oil-burning power plant toxic pollution brought to light in the Toxic Release Inventory. It demonstrates that electric utility emissions can and do in fact present serious public health concerns. It also shows that special pollution exemptions for power plants have contributed to the massive quantity of toxic materials released by the electric power industry.