Quinnipiac pollution high in carcinogens, report says (Connecticut) 9/1998

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Quinnipiac pollution high in carcinogens, report says

Pettit

Record-Journal staff

WALLINGFORD — The Quinnipiac River ranks third in the nation on a list of

waterways polluted with carcinogens, according to a report released

Thursday.

Members of Connecticut Public Interest Research Group (ConnPIRG) held a

press conference Thursday on the banks of the Quinnipiac River off River

Street to release the report, called " Troubled Waters. "

White, the group's spokeswoman, said industries discharged nearly

1 billion pounds of toxic chemicals into America's waterways between 1992

and 1996. The report also found that industries discharged an additional 141

million pounds into sewer systems over the same period of time, she said.

Connecticut ranks among the nation's top 10 states for both carcinogens and

reproductive toxins discharged into waterways and 20th for toxic chemicals

discharged both directly into waterways and into sewage systems. Polluters

in the state discharged the largest quantities of toxins into the Thames

River and the most cancer-causing chemicals into the Quinnipiac River.

The report says 620,588 pounds of carcinogens were discharged into the

Quinnipiac river from 1992 to 1996. Only the Columbia River in Oregon and

Washington and the Genesee River in New York received more carcinogens

through direct discharge, the report says.

Cytec Industries, Allegheny Ludlum Corp. and AC Molding Compounds, all of

Wallingford, were the river's top three polluters during the study period,

according to the report. Cytec is responsible for releasing 422,565 pounds

of carcinogens into the river, the report says.

Comparably, a similar report shows that from 1990 to 1994, 1,158,656 pounds

of carcinogens were dumped in the Quinnipiac — about 809,000 pounds by

Cytec.

Still, the new report " illustrates that polluters continue to use America's

waterways as dumping grounds for toxic chemicals, " White said. Many of the

chemicals being discharged into rivers and streams are known to cause

cancer, birth defects, reproductive disorders and other serious health

effects, she said.

Woodmansee, vice president of communications and public relations for

the American Cancer Society, attended Thursday's press conference, as did

Sigrun Gadwa, executive director of the Quinnipiac River Watershed

Association.

The American Cancer Society has forwarded a copy of the report to its

scientists in Atlanta, Woodmansee said.

" We are absolutely concerned with any sort of chemicals or agents that could

be leading to cancer in citizens in the state of Connecticut, " he said. " To

that end, we hope to be able to join those who wish to know exactly what is

being dumped into our waters. "

In compiling its report, the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group

analyzed toxic chemical releases into major waterways, as reported by

industries to the federal Community Right to Know Act's Toxics Release

Inventory. That data accounts for only a small percentage of toxic chemical

pollution released into the environment, White said.

Due to loopholes, major sources of toxic pollution go unreported, including

data on substances such as dioxin, lead and mercury, White said.

The research group is working to expand the Community Right to Know Act,

White said.

" The bottom line is millions of toxic pollutants are being dumped into our

waterways, " she said. " We need to know what kind of chemicals are in our

environment. Without more complete information on the use and release of

toxic chemicals, the public is left in the dark and we cannot protect

ourselves.

" We are calling on Congress and the Clinton administration to take several

actions to expand Right to Know as a first step toward reducing toxic

pollution to our waterways. "

Cappannari, environmental services manager for Cytec, points out

that the study reports total discharges from 1992 to 1996 and " our

discharges during that period of time have been consistently reduced each

year. " From 1987 to 1997, Cytec reduced its total discharge pounds by 88

percent, he said.

" It sums up data over a four-year period, " he said of the report. " I'm

guessing it doesn't show the trend where there's been big reductions

recently. "

The report does not give a year-by-year break down.

Cappannari also said " water release of formaldehyde is not considered a

carcinogen, but when it is released into the air it is a carcinogen. " Cytec

released about 8,000 pounds of formaldehyde into the Quinnipiac in 1996, he

said.

" It's a big reduction from the years in the early '90s, " he said.

White said the federal Environmental Protection Agency considers

formaldehyde a carcinogen and formaldehyde is including in the Connecticut

Public Interest Research Group report.

Cappannari said Cytec, entering the first year of a new state water

discharge permit, is working closely with the state Department of

Environmental Protection.

" We're conducting studies of the river to determine what the local effects

are from our discharge, " he said. " Studies done to date show there's very

little or no impact from discharge on the river. "

Gadwa, who was more upbeat about the river than White, said the report " is

useful as sort of a broad-brush warning. "

" It's not new news, " she said. " There was an inventory released two years

ago. The poundage released and ranking are improving over what they were two

years ago. It's always useful to draw attention to these problems. It can

also be a problem if publicity is too alarmist. I think the river is moving

along in a good direction and companies are working hard to reduce their

discharges. "

She pointed out that the concentration of a pollutant in a river is " more

important " than poundage.