Quick question: What is the most polluted state in the union?

Answer: Alaska -- or at least that is the answer you will get if you consult the EPA Toxic Release Inventory figures.

The statistic no doubt will be presented to the public as debate continues over mining development projects and during advertising for the upcoming ballot initiatives.

So how is this figure is derived?

The answer concerns the metals lead and zinc. In 1998 the EPA decided that any mine that moves material containing higher than 0.5 weight percent lead must report this material as a release. At the Red Dog Mine all of the ore and the surrounding rock contains this amount of lead and zinc. The EPA rules dictate that by simply moving this rock this constitutes a "toxic release" and must be reported. The numbers for Red Dog (615,316,765 pounds in 2006) are hundreds of times larger than the totals for some states.

There are several reasons why the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program is flawed and should be amended.

First, these numbers do not help the public evaluate specific risks to their environment. Unfortunately it is too easy to use the data to scare the public. Be prepared to see this number quoted by advocacy groups even though the EPA specifically states that "data on amounts of the chemicals alone are inadequate to reach conclusions or formulate policy." Including the large values at a major mine confuses the public about the importance of smaller amounts of truly toxic chemicals.

A second failure of the TRI program is that it excludes entire industries from the reporting requirements. No accounting is made of agriculture and its massive use of fertilizers, pesticides, industrial feedlots and animal waste disposal sites. Nor is the oil industry included. Even branches of the federal government can exempt themselves from reporting requirements. This makes it impossible to fairly compare pollution releases across industries.

The very rationale for the TRI legislation was to help communities avoid becoming the next Bhopal -- the site in India of one of the worst industrial accidents -- by making available to the public information about the chemicals present within their communities. However, Bhopal was an accident, and even if the plant had been following the TRI requirements, reporting would not have prevented the accident and the 3,800 lives lost.

The point is that the TRI program was not designed to include metal mining operations. As we have seen for Alaska, including the Red Dog data distorts the picture and distracts us from real potential hazards. The numbers are misreported and are being used to alarm the public. It is time to reform the Toxic Release Inventory program.