Southern Company - Corporate Responsibility Report: TRI Data

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act was enacted by Congress in 1986 to help communities protect public health, safety, and the environment from chemical hazards.

A provision of the act requires that the EPA maintain a database of information on the amount of chemicals used or produced by industry that are released into the air, land or water. The database is known as the Toxics Release Inventory.

In 1997, the EPA expanded reporting to include electric utilities that use coal or oil to generate electricity. The first report was filed in June 1999 for 1998 releases. Of the more than 650 substances on the reporting list, about 20 are released or produced as a result of coal or oil combustion.

2010 Element	Air Releases (lbs)	Land Releases (lbs)	Water Releases (lbs)	Off-Site Transfers (lbs)	Total Releases (lbs)
Ammonia	754,950	0	14,175	0	769,125
Chlorine in Water	0	0	0	0	0
Hydrazine	0	0	0	0	0
Hydrochloric acid	14,192,000	NA	NA	NA	14,192,000
Hydrogen fluoride	3,159,000	NA	NA	NA	3,159,000
Sulfuric acid	4,601,000	NA	NA	NA	4,601,000
Antimony Compounds	0	0	0	0	0
Arsenic Compounds	7,001	750,947	5,999	4,900	768,847
Barium Compounds	60,187	20,152,370	63,287	135,845	20,411,689
Beryllium Compounds	465	90,500	0	0	92,965
Chromium Compounds	8,470	1,055,000	3,984	4,980	1,072,434
Cobalt Compounds	2,251	420,000	1	0	422,252
Copper Compounds	6,670	1,361,468	58,724	3,320	1,430,182
Lead Compounds	6,528.8	577,443.4	124.3	16,388.5	600,485.0
Manganese Compounds	12,846	1,993,467	21,725	39,700	2,067,738
Mercury Compounds	4,369.4	3,430.9	0.1	926.8	8,727.2
Nickel Compounds	8,520	904,950	12,039	3,750	929,269
Selenium Compounds	23,950	59,900	2,486	6	96,339
Thallium Compounds	100	112,000	2,960	0	115,060
Vanadium Compounds	10,951	2,260,500	1,553	35,340	2,308,344
Zinc Compounds	23,780	1,228,823	9,984	7,540	1,270,127
Benzo(g,h,i)perylene	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
Naphthalene	859	0	0	0	859
Styrene	37,455	0	0	0	37,455
Dioxin and Dioxin-like Compounds*	10.1062	0.0	0.0	0.0	10.1062
Polycyclic aromatic compounds	9	0	0	0	9
Glycol Ethers	0	0	0	0	0
Formic Acid	0	21,000	0	0	21,000
Total by Media (Reportable)	23,011,362	30,982,809	197,038	252,696
Total for All Media (Reportable)	54,464,904

Putting Risk into Perspective

While the EPCRA requires reporting of releases—important information the public should have—these numbers by themselves do not represent risk factors. More on risk »

Many of the "releases" utilities report are actually kept on the plant site. On average, at Southern Company plants, more than 95 percent of the substances classified as metals—such as nickel and zinc—are contained on-site. Additionally, on average, 25 percent of "total releases" are actually captured using control equipment and do not escape from our plant sites.

The vast majority of releases listed as "air releases" are the acid aerosols, which are dispersed gradually over time from our plants and often dissipate in the atmosphere within minutes or hours once they leave the stacks. At the highest concentrations, the acid aerosols are less than one part per billion, or one part of acid aerosol per billion parts of air. The majority of the other releases, which are classified as metals, are contained on our plant sites and are identified as "land or water releases." Of the metals that are released into the air—also done so gradually over time—the concentration is well below one part per trillion.

Southern Company continues to support ongoing air quality studies to determine what impact, if any, our plant emissions may be having on human health and the environment. Learn more at:

2010

Putting Risk into Perspective