Clean Air News

Virginia Robnett

(603) 229-3222 

Concord, NH – Exposure to dangerous toxic pollution from industrial facilities threatens communities in New Hampshire and across the country, according to a new report released today by Environment New Hampshire.

The report, Toxic Pollution and Health, uses information from the federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) to analyze toxic pollution linked to serious health problems such as cancer, birth defects or neurological damage. Due to a recent EPA action restricting the public’s right-to-know, today’s report may provide one of the last complete pictures of toxic pollution in New Hampshire.

In New Hampshire, industrial facilities released to the state’s air and water more than 76,000 lbs. of know carcinogens and over 1 million lbs suspected to cause neurological impairment, which can damage the human brain and central nervous system and can impair memory, alter behavior and lead to degenerative diseases of the brain.

In 2004, New Hampshire ranked 4th in the nation for total air and water releases of a group of chemicals known as Dioxins. These chemicals are the most dangerous known to science and cause cancer, developmental defects, and reproductive problems. The largest source of this pollution came from the Tillotson Rubber Co. INC in Coos County, which was one of the top releasers of this dangerous chemical in the nation.  

“This report confirms that communities across New Hampshire are routinely put at risk by toxic pollution linked to serious health impacts,” said Virginia Robnett, Environment New Hampshire Field Organizer. “These toxic pollutants are the worst of the worst and pose tangible threats to public health that must be addressed.”

The federal Toxic Release Inventory is a public right-to-know program that requires industrial facilities to publicly disclose their toxic releases. In 2004, EPA reported that the TRI has helped to reduce toxic pollution by 57% nationwide since its inception in 1988. Despite this success, the EPA recently weakened the program by authorizing industrial facilities to withhold previously reported pollution information.

“Gutting TRI reporting is not a philosophical argument where I live, we are a community facing impact from many polluting sources,” said Jackie Elliot of Claremont, New Hampshire. “To address the potential health threats from toxic pollution, we need full information about what toxics are being released, where, and in what amounts.”

Representatives Pallone (D-NJ) and Solis (D-CA) and Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Boxer (D-CA) recently challenged EPA’s rollbacks by introducing the Toxic Right-to-Know Protection Act (H.R. 1055 and S. 595). This legislation would reverse the rollbacks to restore the lost data and ensure that communities have full and complete access to toxic pollution information. 

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To view a full copy of the report, please visit Environment New Hampshire’s website at www.EnvironmnetNewHampshire.org