The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last week that Louisiana industrial plants reduced their toxic chemical releases by 5.6 percent in 2019 compared to 2018, according to NOLA.com. Emissions were down by 136.9 million pounds a year.
However, the production of waste increased by 7 percent, according to EPA’s annual Toxics Release Inventory National Analysis. The wastes were not released into the environment but were instead eliminated through recycling, the creation of energy or treatment processes.
Across the U.S., the EPA reported that chemical releases dropped by 9 percent in 2019. EPA officials say the numbers, which go through six months of analyses and reviews before they’re released, do not reflect any effects that the COVID-19 pandemic might have had on 2020 chemical releases. Go to NOLA.com for the full story.
