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TOP CORPORATE AIR POLLUTERS NAMED
from Political Economy Research Institute
Entered into the database on Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 @ 11:32:51 MST


 

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Researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts today released the Toxic 100, an updated list of the top corporate air polluters.

"The Toxic 100 informs consumers and shareholders which large corporations release the most toxic pollutants into our air," says James K. Boyce, director of PERI's environment program. "We measure not just how many pounds of pollutants are released, but which are the most toxic and how many people are at risk. People have a right to know about toxic hazards to which they are exposed. Legislators need to understand the effects of pollution on their constituents."

The Toxic 100 index is based on air releases of hundreds of chemicals from industrial facilities across the United States. The rankings take into account not only the quantity of releases, but the relative toxicity of chemicals, nearby populations, and factors such as prevailing winds and height of smokestacks. The Toxic 100 index identifies the top air polluters among corporations that appear in the “Fortune 500,” “Forbes 500,” and “Standard & Poor's 500” lists of the country's largest firms. The Toxic 100's top five companies are E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., US Steel, ConocoPhillips, GE, and Eastman Kodak.

A new feature of the web-based list is that readers can see the details behind each company, such as individual facilities owned by the corporation, specific chemicals they emit, their toxicities, and their contributions to the company's overall Toxic Score.

The data on chemical releases come from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The TRI is widely cited in press accounts that identify the top polluters in various localities. But reports based on these data alone have three limitations:

Raw TRI data are reported in total pounds of chemicals, without taking into account differences in toxicity. Pound-for-pound, some chemicals are up to ten million times more hazardous than others.

TRI data do not calculate the numbers of people affected by toxic releases--for example, the difference between facilities upwind from densely-populated urban areas and those located far from population centers.

TRI data are reported on a facility-by-facility basis, without combining plants owned by one corporation to get a picture of overall corporate performance.

The Toxic 100 index tackles all three problems. It includes toxicity weights and the number of people at risk using 2002 data—the most recent available from the EPA's Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators project. PERI researchers added up facility-by-facility data from the EPA to get corporate rankings.

“In making this information available, we are building on the achievements of the right-to-know movement,” Boyce explains. “Our goal is to engender public participation in environmental decision-making, and to help residents translate the right to know into the right to clean air.”

THE TOXIC 100: Top Corporate Air Polluters in the United States
Largest corporations ranked by toxic score, 2002

>> For details on how this table was prepared, see Technical Notes.

>> Search detailed company reports.

 

Rank Corporation Toxic score
(pounds released
x toxicity x
population exposure)
Millions of
pounds of toxic
air releases


1

E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co.

 

475,482 17.15
2

United States Steel Corp.

 

359,681 2.84
3

ConocoPhillips

 

284,772 8.04
4

General Electric Co.

 

266,308 4.46
5

Eastman Kodak Co.

 

253,054 5.09
6

Exxon Mobil Corp.

 

247,699 15.47
7

Ford Motor Co.

 

244,782 9.67
8

Tyson Foods Inc.

 

234,041 1.28
9

Alcoa Inc.

 

193,034 9.88
10

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM)

 

191,367 12.40
11

The Dow Chemical Co

.

157,237 14.07
12

Eastman Chemical Co., Inc

.

154,570 8.91
13

The Boeing Co.

 

152,426 1.26
14

Nucor Corp.

 

152,421 0.76
15

Georgia-Pacific Corp.

 

148,277 22.72
16

AK Steel Holding Corp.

 

133,591 0.33
17

Northrop Grumman Corp.

 

125,214 0.52
18

Deere & Co.

 

120,050 0.41
19

Dominion Resources Inc.

 

117,712 15.15
20

General Motors Corp.

 

114,235 12.77
21

Delphi Corp.

 

110,565 0.38
22

Tesoro Corp.

 

109,182 3.74
23

Phelps Dodge Corp.

 

107,877 3.64
24

Temple-Inland Inc.

 

103,730 7.53
25

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co

.

98,700 4.16
26

Allegheny Technologies Inc

.

95,700 0.59
27

International Paper Co.

 

95,277 35.07
28

Valero Energy Corp.

 

80,204 3.36
29

Progress Energy Inc.

 

75,868 38.96
30

Kerr-McGee Corp.

 

72,366 0.84
31

Danaher Corp.

 

67,834 0.16
32

Engelhard Corp.

 

63,539 3.17
33

Constellation Energy Group Inc.

 

63,410 15.67
34

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

 

60,844 8.17
35

American Electric Power

 

59,810 87.90
36

Reliant Energy Inc.

 

58,235 34.67
37

Teco Energy Inc.

 

57,759 11.54
38

Becton, Dickinson & Co.

 

55,353 0.64
39

Premcor Inc.

 

54,952 1.11
40

Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc.

 

54,613 2.21
41

Tyco International Ltd.

 

53,538 1.38
42

Weyerhaeuser Co.

 

53,064 17.83
43

United Technologies Corp. (UTC)

 

51,289 0.43
44

Honeywell International Inc.

 

50,575 9.50
45

Owens Corning

 

49,711 5.93
46

Duke Energy Corp.

 

48,707 36.60
47

Occidental Petroleum Co.

 

44,761 1.20
48

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG)

 

44,462 5.89
49

Cinergy Corp.

 

44,448 29.19
50

Ashland Inc.

 

41,157 0.24
51

The AES Corp.

 

40,085 6.43
52

Procter & Gamble Co.

 

39,560 0.35
53

Lyondell Chemical Co.

 

38,843 8.88
54

Leggett & Platt Inc.

 

38,797 0.15
55

Sunoco Inc.

 

37,446 1.72
56

Emerson Electric Co.

 

36,273 0.32
57

MeadWestvaco Corp.

 

35,886 14.00
58

FirstEnergy Corp.

 

35,006 21.65
59

Ball Corp.

 

34,226 4.57
60

Textron Inc.

 

32,957 0.61
61

Rowan Cos. Inc.

 

30,634 0.06
62

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.

 

30,570 17.52
63

Mirant Corp.

 

30,559 19.39
64

Chevron Corp.

 

30,457 3.27
65

Southern Co.

 

30,384 80.81
66

ArvinMeritor Inc.

 

27,937 0.74
67

Lear Corp.

 

27,627 0.29
68

Visteon Corp.

 

27,187 0.80
69

Monsanto Co.

 

25,548 0.61
70

3M Co.

 

25,478 4.75
71

Xcel Energy Inc.

 

25,442 9.68
72

Crown Holdings Inc.

 

23,345 3.46
73

Rohm & Haas Co.

 

22,934 1.50
74

Federal-Mogul Corp.

 

22,903 0.35
75

PPG Industries Inc.

 

22,523 2.16
76

Great Lakes Chemical Corp.

 

21,808 0.60
77

ICI American Holdings Inc.

 

21,677 1.60
78

Corning Inc.

 

21,041 0.08
79

El Paso Corp.

 

21,021 1.72
80

Heartland Industrial Partners LP

 

20,625 1.22
81

Amerada Hess Corp.

 

17,948 0.27
82

Allegheny Energy Inc.

 

17,689 22.01
83

Exelon Corp.

 

17,599 0.60
84

Marathon Oil Co.

 

17,340 1.27
85

Goodrich Corp.

 

17,075 0.26
86

Armstrong Holdings Inc.

 

16,478 0.90
87

The Shaw Group Inc.

 

15,895 0.06
88

Praxair Inc.

 

15,846 0.14
89

Pfizer, Inc

 

14,791 0.66
90

Brunswick Corp

 

13,574 3.02
91

Ameren Corp.

 

13,406 15.91
92

Dana Corp.

 

12,906 0.38
93

Altria Group Inc.

 

12,760 2.24
94

Hercules Inc.

 

12,322 1.48
94

The Stanley Works

 

12,306 0.20
96

Kimberly-Clark Corp.

 

11,817 0.66
97

Harley-Davidson Inc.

 

11,564 0.06
98

Mohawk Industries Inc.

 

11,115 0.47
99

Plum Creek Timber Co. L.P.

 

10,955 0.71
100

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

 

10,764 0.86

Explanatory notes:

Toxic score: Pounds of air releases reported in the US Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory for the year 2002, weighted by toxicity of chemicals and number of people impacted. Weights are from the EPA's Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators project. For details, see Technical Notes.

Quantity of toxic air releases: Millions of pounds of toxic chemicals released, without weighting for toxicity or population.

Coverage: This table presents the highest toxic scores for corporations that appear on the Fortune 500, Forbes 500, and/or Standard & Poor's 500 lists in the year 2003. Individual facilities are assigned to corporate parents on the basis of the most current information on the ownership structure.

For further information, contact Professor Michael Ash at +1 (413) 545-6329 or visit PERI's Corporate Toxics Information Project.