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Arizona industries increased their toxic releases by about 7 percent during 2008, according to EPA data released Tuesday, with copper smelting and mining contributing the most.

Nationally, releases dropped 6 percent. Arizona levels have varied, but 2008 releases are about two-thirds higher than 2004.

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Copper smelting and mining contributed the most toxic substances to state totals and to the increase, said EPA Region 9 Toxic Release Industry coordinator Nancy Ledin.

Arizona copper production increased by more than 11 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the Copper Development Association, but production declined in 2009. The figures for Arizona mining do not include the billions of pounds of tailings that Congress exempted in the 1980s from hazardous materials regulations that have been a source of water and dust pollution in mining towns.

The TRI data grew out of the 1986 Environmental Protection and Community Right to Know Act. That requires most facilities using toxic chemicals and hazardous materials to provide information to the public on substances that might be stored on site or released to the environment by local facilities. This includes industrial facilities, government offices and even public swimming pools using chlorine.

The information is gathered nationwide by a small volunteer municipal or county "local emergency planning committees" likely to include citizens, police and fire departments and local industrial or military representatives.

More than 95 million pounds of toxics were reported in Arizona by 274 facilities, putting Arizona in the middle third of the country. ASARCO's Hayden smelter and Ray mine complex and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold's Miami smelter and mine complex accounted for well over half of the total.

Among mining towns, the huge Freeport Morenci mine released about 8.6 million pounds of toxics, nearly half being lead-based compounds. Lead was present in high concentrations at other mines. The Freeport Sierrita mine near Green Valley released about 2.4 million pounds, about 60 percent lead; ASARCO Mission mine at Sahuarita about 2 million, 80 percent lead; and the Freeport Safford mine had 908,000 pounds of toxics, about 96 percent lead.

Among toxic pollutants, Sierrita's molybdenum roaster emitted about 27,000 pounds of molybdenum trioxide. All data reported by facilities can be found at www.epa.gov/triexplorer.

By Dick Kamp, Wick Communications Environmental Liaison