Taking Stock 2005 - Chapter 4 (feature on the petroleum industry)
Key Findings
- In 2005, 15,461 facilities in the petroleum industry reported to the pollutant release and transfer registers
(PRTRs) of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Of the four sectors discussed in this chapter-oil and gas
production, pipeline transport of petroleum and natural gas, petroleum refineries and bulk storage terminals-
two, oil and gas production and pipelines, were not subject to US Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting, and
therefore US National Emissions Inventory (NEI) data were used for air releases from facilities in these sectors.
When all data sources are considered, US facilities numbered 11,331, Canadian facilities 3,867 and Mexican
facilities 263.
- Petroleum facilities reported about 1.5 billion kilograms, or one-quarter, of the 5.5 billion kilograms of toxic pollutants reported by all sectors in 2005 (see Chapter 3). Hydrogen sulfide, reported by Canadian facilities only, accounted for about 1.36 billion kilograms (90 percent) of this amount, with a variety of other toxics
making up the remainder.
- In addition to toxic pollutants, the petroleum industry released some 3.7 billion kilograms of criteria air
contaminants, a group of pollutants associated with a variety of health and environmental issues. Although
facility-level data for greenhouse gas releases by petroleum facilities are not generally available, the country level
data presented in Chapter 3 indicate that this industry also contributed large amounts of GHG releases
in 2005.
- A review of consistent reporting by Canadian and US refineries and bulk storage terminals over the four years from 2002 to 2005 reveals that an average of about 7 million kilograms of carcinogens and developmental or
reproductive toxicants were released on- or off-site annually, with many of them released to air or water.
- In each of the four petroleum sectors presented in this chapter, about 30 substances accounted for the
majority of all reported releases and transfers, with CAC releases accounting for the bulk of reporting by each
sector. Like CAC reporting, some of the toxic pollutants reported in very large amounts to one PRTR program
were not subject to reporting under another. Hydrogen sulfide is one example: this pollutant ranked first
in amounts reported by Canadian facilities, but it was not subject to reporting under the US TRI and NEI. In
Mexico, hydrogen sulfide is reportable under the country's PRTR, Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de
Contaminantes (RETC), but it was not reported by any Mexican petroleum facility in 2005.
- Differences in national reporting requirements and the wide variations in reporting overall result in gaps in
the picture of pollution from the North American petroleum industry. These findings can be used to further the
efforts of the three governments to improve the reliability and comparability of North American PRTR data and
to prioritize areas for further action on pollution prevention and reduction.