The Scottish public is being kept in
the dark over potentially hazardous emissions from Scottish factories, landfills
and sewage works according to a report published today (Wednesday 30 January) by
Friends of the Earth Scotland [1]. Unlike England, where basic information on
pollution emissions from industry is available or the United States with its
comprehensive system, Scots can find almost no information on actual discharges
or emissions.
The report 'Counting
Chemicals' - which details the pollution inventory systems around the world and
sets out the minimum conditions for a Scottish system - is published in advance
of a Scottish Parliamentary debate taking place today triggered by a motion by
Stirling MSP Dr Sylvia Jackson which calls for Scotland to set up a
comprehensive pollution inventory system. [2] Friends of the Earth is urging
MSPs to support the motion.
Friends of the Earth
Scotland Chief Executive, Kevin Dunion, said:
"Accessing pollution
information in Scotland is complicated, time consuming and costly. In some cases
the figures are either not available or not even collected. Currently, people
living near BP in Port Talbot can find out what chemicals are being released
locally, while those living near BP in Grangemouth cannot. The recent report
linking hazardous landfill sites with birth defects underlines the urgent need
for the Scottish Executive to provide SEPA with the resources to set up a
comprehensive pollution inventory for Scotland. [3]
"This motion will help us
focus on one of the key steps which will give the ordinary person the power to
confront industrial polluters head on. Easy public access to environmental
information is key if we are to have environmental justice in Scotland. Last
year the English Environment Agency was naming and shaming the worst polluters -
in Scotland we cannot even tell who they might be.
"Scotland must go beyond the
minimum required by European law and move quickly to a comprehensive, easily
accessible system which covers all the chemicals which may be causing harm to
people's health or the environment. Scotland is already moving in the right
direction, the key issue is to move quickly and far enough - to a system which
covers at least the 244 recommended chemicals, reports annually and on an
easy-to-use internet site."
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] FoE's new report 'Counting Chemicals' and a full briefing on
Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers
Under current laws the
Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has to produce an inventory of
emissions of 50 chemicals, starting from 2003. This does not have to be
available on the internet. The United States' Toxic Release Inventory covers
around 650 chemicals and a new European agreement recommends 244 chemicals for
inclusion.
[2] Dr Jackson MSP's full
motion reads as follows:
Introduction of a Pollution
Inventory:
"That the Parliament
congratulates the Scottish Executive on its proposals to cut particle air
pollution by more than 50% by 2010; notes the detrimental effects on health that
air pollution can have; recognises the need for the introduction of a pollution
inventory system in order to make information on releases of pollutants from
industrial processes available to the public in a clear, easily understandable
and accessible format, and believes that the Scottish Executive should support
the progressive introduction of a pollution release and transfer register as
required under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europeıs Aarhus
convention."
[3] Last Friday (25 January)
a report published in the Lancet suggested babies born within 3km of landfill
sites taking hazardous waste are 40 per cent more likely to be born with
chromosomal anomalies, such as Down's Syndrome.
Chromosomal congenital
anomalies and residence near hazardous waste landfill sites, the Lancet, January
26, 2002 - eight of the 18 sites studied are in the UK (2 of which are in
Glasgow).
[4] The Environment Agencyıs
site, providing access to the Pollution Inventory for England and Wales, can be
found at http://www.environment-agency.tv/ye/qa-ea-doc/register/index.html
The Pollution Inventory
currently looks at industrial processes but is soon to include landfill sites
and sewage plants.
[5] The US EPAıs website on
the TRI http://www.epa.gov/tri/general.htm. Commenting on the US
system then Vice President Al Gore said, ³Putting basic information about toxic
releases into the hands of citizens is one of the most powerful tools available
for protecting public health and the environment in local communities. That is
why this Administration has dramatically expanded the publicıs access to this
vital information. Citizens now have more information than ever at their
fingertips to help protect their communities, their health and their childrenıs
health.²
