Alabama industrial facilities released more than 82 million pounds of toxic material into the air, land and water in 2017, according to an analysis released this month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Alabama had the fifth highest volume of toxic releases into waterways in 2017 with 11.2 million pounds, and the fifth most toxic substances released into the air with 27.1 million pounds.

State rankings

Overall, Alabama’s 82,110,182 pounds of total releases ranked 11th of 56 in total releases among U.S. states and territories. The map below shows how each of the lower 48 states ranked, with the darker colors representing higher totals. On supported browsers, hovering over each state will show the total release figures.

The analysis was published this month in the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory, a massive collection of legal pollution reports filed with the agency from more than 21,000 industrial facilities across the country. The reports lay out how much of certain chemicals are emitted to the air, land and water from manufacturing operations, electric utilities, as well as facilities like hazardous materials landfills that accept certain toxic substances.

Alabama ranked 10th in total releases per square mile and 10th in releases per capita, based on 2017 U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

In 2016, Alabama ranked 10th in the country with 84.8 million pounds of total releases, but that amount has decreased steadily over the years in Alabama and nationwide as pollution control measures improve.

Alaska is far and away the top state in terms of total releases (1.17 billion pounds) because of its large quantities of mining waste. Nevada is second in the state rankings with just under 398 million pounds of total releases.

U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory state rankings for 2017.

The figures reported all show the weight of the substances released, not the potential for impact on human health and the environment. For this reason, heavier wastes like mining refuse often dominate the total release rankings in the EPA’s national analysis.

However, take away land releases, which include the heavy mining waste, and Alabama and other southeastern states begin to climb the charts. Alabama ranked fifth in the country in both total air emissions and total water releases.

Alabama’s 27.1 million pounds of air emissions are driven by the paper industry, with the top eight facilities in terms of air releases all belonging to the paper sector. Other manufacturing facilities and electric utilities also contribute to the state’s ranking. See the full list of Alabama facilities reporting air emissions.

The largest water emitter in the state is the Outokumpo stainless steel plant in Mobile County, followed by several food/livestock processing operations, paper mills and other industrial operations. See the full list of Alabama facilities reporting water releases.

Among Alabama Counties

Mobile County reported more releases than any other in Alabama, with 13.5 million pounds of total releases.

All facilities that manufacture, use, or emit certain chemicals or operate in certain industrial sectors are required by law to fill out a TRI Form R to document those releases. The forms are compiled into a massive database and made public in compliance with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, a law passed in 1986.

Mobile County had 48 facilities that were required to file TRI reports, led by Outokumpo in Calvert and Alabama Power’s Barry Steam Plant in Bucks, Ala.

Sumter County had the second highest total in Alabama with 12.7 million pounds, nearly all of it at the Chemical Waste Management hazardous materials landfill in Emelle.

The map below shows the total reports for each county, with darker colors indicating higher total releases. On supported browsers, hovering over, or clicking on a county will show the five facilities that reported the highest total releases (if applicable). Hold the shift key to drag the map and the control key to select multiple counties.

Chemicals released in Alabama

Methanol was the largest chemical released by volume in Alabama, with more than 11 million pounds. Most of those totals are water releases from the paper industry.

The size of the bubbles in the graph below corresponds to the total amount released in 2017 in Alabama. Hovering or clicking on a chemical will display the five facilities in Alabama that emitted the most of that chemical. Clicking on a chemical name in the index at right will highlight that chemical in the graph.

Carcinogens released in Alabama

Known carcinogens are noted separately in the TRI database. The largest carcinogen released in Alabama was lead, mostly at the Sanders Lead Company in Troy, which recycles lead-acid automobile batteries.

Search near your home

The federal figures could change, as the inventory is occasionally revised due to corrections in pollution reports or new or delayed reports being filed. All data for this report was pulled in March 2019.

The stated purpose of the EPA’s TRI program is to empower the public to get information about facilities around them. For that purpose, the EPA has a searchable database that allows users to search by facility, state, zip code, chemicals released or by industry sector.

Search the EPA TRI database online.