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Edison International is committed to providing access to key environmental data. In conjunction with federal Emergency Planning & Community Right-to-Know Act (also known as the Toxics Release Inventory or “TRI”), we want you to know about release data from our plants and to understand the relative risk factors.
While this law requires Edison International companies to report releases, they provide only a part of the picture. What they do not provide is information that allows for evaluation of the level of risk posed by these releases. Nor do they provide any perspective from which risk judgments can be made.
For instance, the United States’s TRI does not explicitly indicate that many "releases" are contained within Edison International facilities or sites, never entering the surrounding area. At Edison Mission Energy's Midwest Generation facilities, many of the substances classified as metals—such as nickel and zinc—are contained within the plant site. Also, a great deal of what is termed "total releases" is actually captured using air pollution-control equipment and is not released into the air as emissions. Metallic emissions that do reach the air are released gradually over time with maximum concentration levels measured in parts per trillion. Some acids in air emissions often dissipate in the atmosphere within hours or minutes.
The impact of emissions should not be underestimated, so our efforts to protect air quality have been extensive. At the same time, recent studies show that levels of emissions from power plants do not pose a significant public health concern. This was supported in a 1999 report by the U.S. EPA which found that ash from coal-fired power plants "generally does not present a risk to human health and the environment." For more information on the U.S. EPA's Toxics Release Inventory program, click here.
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