TRI REPORTING

Huntsman Corporation, of Cantonment, is one of several businesses in Florida that the Environmental Protection Agency listed on their 2007 Toxic Release Inventory report for releasing harmful chemicals into the environment.

Huntsman, located at 3000 Old Chemstrand Rd., is a lead global manufacturer and marketer of a variety of chemicals. The chemicals are manufactured for many different industries including plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.

Today, Huntsman employs over 12,000 people and operates from multiple locations worldwide, with 2008 revenues exceeding $10 Billion.

The total of on-site and off-site waste managed at Huntsman in 2007 totaled 7,306,100 pounds. The six chemicals listed on the TRI report are Acrylic Acid, Dibutyl Phthalate, Maleic Anhydride, N-Butyl Alcohol, Phthalic Anhydride, and Vanadium Compounds.

Each of these chemicals causes negative effects to the air and to the human body. These chemicals have several adverse reactions to humans. One adverse affect reported is developmental toxicants which cause adverse affects in the developments of children. Some of the toxicants negatively affect the kidneys, respiratory system, and nervous system, just to name a few.

Other human health hazards can be found and explained in detail at www.scorecard.org.

Scorecard lists Acrylic acid as especially dangerous, ranking it as one of the most hazardous compounds (worst 10 percent) to ecosystems and human health.

There are several ways that these chemicals are released into the environment from Huntsman. The toxins are released either on-site or off-site.

“On-site releases include emissions from our facilities directly into the air or into a wastewater treatment facility, where it is treated to reduce the quaintly of contaminants before being discharged off-site,” Huntsman Spokesman Ed Gunderson said in an interview.

Gunderson went on to explain that chemicals are transferred off-site and can include aqueous wastewater which is directly discharged to a publicly owned treatment facility where it is treated before being discharged.

He said that wastes are processed off-site to be disposed of or destroyed “in compliance with environmental regulations.”

Gunderson also said that the company does recycle some of its wastes as well.

“In addition, we also report those chemicals that we recycle on-site, or that we recover and make beneficial use of their energy value,” Gunderson said. “Rather than discharge or emit some of the reportable compounds into the environment (such as ethylene propylene), we use them as fuel in our process.”

Since 2000, Huntsman has made an effort to decrease the amount of toxins released into the environment. According to a trend graph of the total on and off-site releases between 1994 and 2007, Huntsman cut back tremendously on the release of toxic chemicals.

In 2001 the releases were at an all time low of just under 100,000 pounds, more than four times less what they released in 1994. Releases have increased over the years 2006 and 2007, to 350,000 pounds.

Although the Huntsman Corporation does release harmful chemicals into the environment, the TRI report shows that they are trying to decrease that amount.

Gunderson is optimistic about the efforts of the corporation and said that Huntsman has “continued efforts to minimize its impact to the environment.”


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