Vermillion County (Terre Haute) ranks high in toxic releases

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Vermillion ranks high in toxic releases

By Suzanne Risley

April 20, 2001

For the second year in a row, Vermillion County has ranked in the top 10

among counties in Indiana for toxic chemical releases.

Indiana's Toxic Release Inventory ranked the county eighth with more than

5.5 million pounds in 1999, with Cinergy's Cayuga plant contributing almost

4.5 million pounds.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management released the annual

rankings this month. Last year, Vermillion County ranked seventh. This

year's report was compiled from data submitted from 1999, said Chavez,

state Toxic Release Inventory coordinator.

Cinergy's Cayuga station releases appear high because it is one of the

largest electric-generating plants in the state, said Randall Born, senior

environmental scientist with Cinergy.

Its highest release was hydrochloric acid, an irritant and corrosive in high

concentrations, according to an Occupational and Safety Health

Administration data sheet. The Cayuga plant released 2.1 million pounds of

hydrochloric acid -- the same amount as last year -- into the air, according

to the inventory report.

The numbers may seem high but no one's health is in jeopardy, said Cinergy

spokesman Rob Norris said.

" Our plants are all in compliance, " he said.

Most of the releases are permitted, meaning not above limits set by law,

said Chavez, state Toxic Release Inventory coordinator. He doesn't

think any facility exceeded its limit in 1999.

Though the electric company has a higher amount of emissions, a chemical

released by Eli Lilly's Clinton Laboratories may be more dangerous.

Clinton Laboratories released 1.1 million pounds of chemicals, about 20

percent of which was dichloromethane, also known as methyl chloride. It is a

chemical linked to cancer in animals and humans, according to a U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency chemical data sheet.

" It's a suspected carcinogen. They haven't actually proven it's a

carcinogen, " said Griggs, spokeswoman for Eli Lilly's Clinton

Laboratories.

According to the EPA, dichloromethane is a liquid that evaporates quickly in

the air and dissolves when mixed with water. But, it doesn't bind to soil,

making seepage into groundwater a possibility.

Clinton Laboratories increased its release of dichloromethane from 350,255

pounds in 1998 to 383,255 pounds in 1999. The chemical was released into the

air, water and land.

Dichloromethane is a solvent used in making the antibiotic Ceclor, Griggs

said, the production of which is to end next year. The amount released each

year has declined steadily, she said.

" We are proud that the rate of emission is among the lowest in the industry

for this compound, " she said. The release amount will lower further as

Ceclor is phased out of production, she said.

Updated 4/20/2001 .

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