Polluters online
For those who think covering the environment means donning hiking boots and bug spray, think again. Environmental stories abound on the Internet, due largely to the Environmental Protection Agency's compulsion to make companies fill out scores of reports.
Almost a decade ago, the government decided to use these finished forms to reduce pollution. Officials started releasing how much stuff a company emitted into the environment and let public pressure do the rest. Thus came about the Toxic Release Inventory.
Company profiles
TRI lists how much of every regulated chemical a particular plant releases in a given year and whether the chemicals were emitted to water, air or land. The database is wonderful for reporting who the top polluters are in an area and what exactly is being released into the local environment. The most recent list is from 1996.
To reach the original database, visit the EPA Web site at www.epa.gov/envirol. Then "Generate Reports" from the TRI. A geography search gives you a list of every local company that has shown up even once in the TRI and provides links to their files. If you want all the specifics on a company's record, this is a gold mine, which also includes contact names and numbers for each plant. You can import the company files one by one into a Web-savvy spreadsheet like Excel 97 and manipulate them from there.
Avoid information glut
Before long, you'll probably note the database is like many things involving the government and the Internet - there is so darn much information.
If you face common newsroom time constraints and just want the highlights, visit the Right-To-Know Network at www.rtk.net. This site lets you pick from summary to extremely detailed searches and lists all the companies in one file, saving you from importing company by company. You also can have the companies listed in order of emissions.
And, best yet, the results can be compiled in comma or tab delimited format, ready to import into any semi-sophisticated spreadsheet or database for further analysis. (An EPA official told me she uses the RTK site after I called her for help with my frustrations at the EPA database page.)
RTK also lets you search by industry in your state or nationally. You can search for the whole state in descending pollution order, giving you a quick feel for where local companies rank. Also useful is more detailed background information about what the TRI does and doesn't include.
For example, you should note in any story that the report only includes regulated companies and chemicals. Public works and smaller polluters like dry cleaners and diesel trucks are not included.
Ranking releases
Unfortunately, both these databases are designed to put a spotlight on individual firms. If you want to know how much stuff was put in your local environment in general, check out the Environmental Defense Fund's Scorecard at www.scorecard.org. This site will tell you the top releases in your county and which pose the greatest threat to human health. It also ranks your county nationally. The drawback is that this database is from 1995, though the designers say they will soon have 1996 numbers.
Response time
After you've crunched the numbers, you are ready to make phone calls. Call the plants or their parent companies and give them a chance to respond. The information is public, so while they might not like a story, most companies will talk to try to get their spin on it. Generally, companies stress the releases in the report are legal.
To be fair, you may want to note the information is old. So if Company X spent a few million upgrading their system recently, its numbers may already be lower. And always explain larger companies are generally going to have more pollution but also provide more jobs. You can use your spreadsheet to rank companies by pollution per worker.
Katie Schallert can be reached by email at katiejo@soltec.net