Covington Ranks #1 Among Most Toxic Zip Codes in VA

New Report by Sierra Club ranks most toxic zip codes according EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory -Montgomery County and Lynchburg listed as 14th / 15th

The MeadWestvaco plant in Covington.
The MeadWestvaco plant in Covington.

Located 40 miles north of Roanoke and surrounded by the George Washington National Forest, Covington is home to 6,000 residents. In 2012, those residents were exposed to almost 3 million pounds of toxic pollution in the air they breathed, pollution emissions reported by MeadWestvaco to the U.S. EPA in its’ Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).

The 2,927,781 pounds of toxic pollutants released into Covington’s air made zip code 24426, where the MeadWestvaco plant is located, the No. 1 most toxic zip code for air pollution in the State of Virginia. MeadWestvaco produces high-quality solid bleached sulfate (SBS) paperboard for many of the world’s most popular and recognized tobacco, food, healthcare and personal care brands.

“We’ve issued this report because we thought it would be helpful for Virginians to know exactly what they’re breathing and how their communities stack up against others in the state in terms of toxic air pollution,” said Glen Besa, Director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter.

“Workers in the facilities that generate or handle these toxics face the greater risk of acute exposure to these chemicals, but in most cases health officials have little information on the effects of long term, lower level exposure experienced by residents beyond the factory fence line,” said Besa. “Hopefully, this report will prompt workers and community residents to ask tough questions about potential health risks and to push officials for answers.”

The majority of the pollutants emitted into Covington’s air by Mead Westvaco are the potent lung irritants ammonia, hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid. The health effects of these more common pollutants should not be minimized, especially when the long-term effects of exposure are not well-understood and permanent harm to the human respiratory system is suspected. Long-term occupational exposure to hydrochloric acid has been reported to cause gastritis, chronic bronchitis, dermatitis, and photosensitization. Long-term exposure to sulfuric acid may cause emphysema.

Other chemicals traced to cancer, birth defects, and neurological damage are released daily in Covington as well. Those chemicals include: Acetaldehyde which has been linked to cancer, birth defects and neurological damage and Methanol which may contribute to birth defects and neurological damage.

“The frequent refrain from industry and regulators is that our levels of exposure to these toxic chemicals are within applicable health standards, but the truth is that they don’t know,” said Besa. Worse yet, the cumulative and synergistic health effects of these combinations of chemicals in our air have in most cases never been studied.

“The more prudent course would be to follow the precautionary principle and not allow the release of chemicals not proven safe,” said Besa. “But since we are living with these toxic chemicals every day, the very least officials should do is pursue epidemiological studies to assess correlations between long term exposure and incidents of cancer and other serious illnesses in the population.”

The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) was established under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), and later expanded in the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s TRI data-base is accessible to the public on a searchable web-site that permits anyone to enter a zip code and determine which companies in that zip code are required to report and how much and which pollutants they are emitting.

The federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program provides data on the release of 650 toxic chemicals into the environment. Each year industries that produce more than 25,000 pounds or handle more than 10,000 pounds of a listed toxic chemical must report to the Toxic Release Inventory maintained by the EPA.

In its report, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter examined the TRI data from all Virginia zip codes and ranked the zip codes to help inform the public and public officials where toxic air pollution is a problem in the state. “TRI data presented in this manner may be effective in fostering a healthy public debate that can contribute to greater and swifter reductions of toxic pollution emissions,’ said Besa.

EPA’s website may be accessed to view TRI data for any zip code directly: Click here to enter your Zip Code

Virginia TOP 15 ZIP Codes with the Highest Amount of Toxic Air Emissions

Rank ZIP Code City/County 2010 Population Toxic Emissions (lbs)**
1 24426 Covington 14,329 2,927,781
2 23860 Hopewell 31,970 2,658,930
3 23836 Chesterfield 11,444         1,981,043
4 24631 Buchanan 2,843 1,311,554
5 23323 Chesapeake 35,906 904,920
6 24225 Cleveland 1,697 844,231
7 23181 West Point 5,426 842,822
8 23234 Richmond City 42,989 809,058
9 23834 Colonial Heights/Chesterfield 25,612 753,449
10 24124 Narrows 4,352 494,503
11 23185 James City 46,370 464,481
12 23692 York 18,846 429,000
13 23851 Isle of Wight 13,715 389,574
14 24141 Montgomery 20,668 360,375
15 24501 Lynchburg 26,757 357,551

**Toxic emissions are the sum of Fugitive Air and Stack Air as reported by the TRI. This value is expressed in pounds (TRI.NET, 2013).

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