Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 22, 1990 TAG: 9004220065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Figures released Friday by the agency showed that more than 144.4 million pounds of chemical pollutants were released to the air, water and land in Virginia in 1988.
The total was down nearly 10 million pounds from the figure reported in 1987, the first year federal law required large manufacturers to estimate their chemical emissions.
The total also was about 50 million pounds less than estimates by the Virginia Department of Waste Management. The state agency estimated that Virginia industries discharged about 196 million pounds of toxic chemicals in 1988, said Cynthia V. Bailey, the agency's executive director.
The waste management department reported toxic emissions of 118.9 million pounds to the air, 38.7 million pounds to municipal sewage treatment plants, 19.8 million pounds directly to state waters, 13.5 million pounds in off-site waste transfers and 5 million pounds in on-site waste disposal.
The state last fall had estimated 219 million pounds of pollution released, but revised the figure after discovering errors in some company reports.
Carbon disulfide and other pollutants released into the air by Avtex Fibers Inc.'s rayon plant in Front Royal accounted for more than 34 million pounds in the state and federal figures.
The Avtex plant was closed last November after the State Water Control Board revoked the plant's wastewater discharge permit as a result of pollution of the Shenandoah River with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The Avtex plant was listed third among the worst air polluters in the country.
The EPA announcement on chemical emissions said 4.6 billion pounds of chemicals were released by U.S. industries in 1988, a 9 percent decline from 1987.
by CNB