Latest trinational report presents most complete picture of North American industrial...( Ninety percent of the 5.5 billion ki...),Health

Ninety percent of the 5.5 billion kilograms of toxic pollutant releases and transfers reported in North America in 2005 can be traced to just 30 substances from 15 industrial sectors across the United States, Canada and Mexico, according to the latest tri-national pollution report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).

Taking Stock 2005, released today,represents the most complete picture of pollution reporting from North American industrial facilities ever assembled. Beginning this year the CEC's annual Taking Stock report provides a broader perspective by expanding in scope to include all data reported in 2005 to the pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Also new this year, the report (www.cec.org) employs air release data from the US National Emissions Inventory (NEI) for criteria air contaminants-a group of pollutants associated with issues such as smog, acid rain, and respiratory effects-and for petroleum sectors not subject to reporting under the US PRTR program.

The United States accounted for about 82 percent of all reporting facilities, Canada 12 percent, and Mexico 6 percent. The year 2005 marks the second consecutive year of mandatory Mexican PRTR reporting.

"Taking Stock 2005 presents the clearest view ever of industrial pollution in North America, and confirms the progress in pollution management that we have tracked for the past decade," said Adrin Vzquez-Glvez, CEC's executive director. "However, it also reveals some major blind spots. This information is critical to government, industry, and communities, and highlights issues of comparability and areas for further action on pollution reduction to address potential environmental and human health issues."

The report shows that the principal contributors to pollutant releases and transfers reported in each country were:

• Oil and ga
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