IMPLEMENTATION OF EPA'S TOXICS RELEASE INVENTORY PROGRAM BY COLORADO SPRINGS UTILITIES

摘要

EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program is best described by the agency as a "public report card for the industrial community, creating a powerful motivation for waste reduction." In May of 1997, the TRI program was expanded to include additional industry groups such as electric generation facilities that combust coal and/or oil. This program has significant impacts to the electric utility industry in terms of emissions reporting and wastes reduction strategies. In addition, many utilities co-locate non-related utility operations within the same contiguous boundaries of operations covered under the TRI program, thus making them subject to the same emissions inventory and reporting requirements. Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), one of the nation's largest municipal-owned utilities, initiated efforts in June of 1997, to fully implement the TRI program for its electric generation operations. As a part of its electric generation operations, CSU owns a 5,096-acre site that includes a steam electric generation plant, and non-related operations consisting of wastewater solids handing and disposal, gravel mining, water treatment, solid waste disposal and ordnance disposal. CSU is also expanding is electric operations on the 5,096 acre site to provide more generation capacity. Co-located operations and the need for more generating capacity on this particular site, poses significant challenges to CSU in addressing emissions tracking, emissions reporting and waste reduction strategies. This paper discusses CSU's approach to implementation of the TRI program, and issues that must be addressed in the near future.