NEWS RELEASE

Mississippi River Ranks First as Nation's Most Polluted River

St. Louis - - - In a report released today, the Mississippi River ranks first in the nation as the most polluted river. Of the 1.5 billion pounds of toxics reported discharged directly to all U. S. waters between 1990 and 1994, close to half (702 million pounds), went directly into the Mississippi. This figure represents more than twice the amount of all other U. S. waters combined.

The report, Dishonorable Discharge, also uses EPA data to estimate, for the first time, untreated toxic discharges through sewage treatment plants (STPs). It assigns an additional 79 million pounds (1) of toxics entering the Mississippi River after going through STPs.

"The Mighty Mississippi - so noble throughout our history - can now be called 'most polluted'. It's a sad day," stated Suzi Wilkins, Executive Director of the Mississippi River Basin Alliance. The Alliance, headquartered in St. Louis, is a coalition of over 70 national, state and local conservation and environmental justice organizations.

The report is the first waterway-by-waterway and toxin-by-toxin analysis of data from the federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). The TRI is an industry-generated estimate of facility discharges and only requires reporting for 5% of all chemicals (340 out of over 73,000 used commercially in the U. S.). The report was authored by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the U.S.Public Interest Research Group, two Washington-based environmental advocacy groups.

Despite the high levels of toxic pollution recorded by the TRI, over 90% of dischargers are exempt from reporting. Exempt facilities include sewage treatment plants, mines, utilities and municipal incinerators. Considering TRI's limitations, the report's authors believe that toxic chemical dumping over the last five years might be 20 times greater than that reported.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed expanding TRI to include additional categories of polluting facilities, a move that industrial interests are attempting to block. Americans have a right to know about any use or release of toxic chemicals in their communities - and the risk of exposure to these chemicals. The Mississippi River Basin Alliance believes that the TRI should be expanded to include estimates for at least 50% of toxic chemicals released by all industrial facilities - up from the current 5%.

(1) This figure is based on an EPA estimate that 25% of all toxic discharges to STPs pass through untreated.

For more information:

Mississippi River Basin Alliance
Box 3878
St. Louis, MO 63122
(314) 822-4114
(314) 821-4292 - fax
mrba@igc.apc.org