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Utah's industries released the third largest amount nationwide of toxic chemicals into the environment in 2003, according to an annual federal report issued Wednesday. Kennecott Copper, which reported releasing 248 million pounds of chemicals, was largely responsible for Utah's ranking just behind Alaska and Nevada.

Even so, chemical releases in Utah have decreased, the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory said, with the most notable decrease in chemical releases to the air, which fell 51 percent from 2002.

But other air-emission data in the report revealed that gold mines in Nevada account for 85 percent of all mercury emissions in Utah, Idaho and Nevada. Air and water quality officials from the three states are planning to meet this week to share information on mercury and five of the largest mines' voluntary emissions reduction program.

Brad Johnson, director of the state Division of Environmental Response and Remediation, said Utah's air pollutants fell from 18.5 million pounds in 2002 to 9.1 million pounds in 2003. This is the lowest total release to air for Utah in the report's 17-year history, Johnson said.

But Jason Groenewold, director of Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, said the state's numbers are nothing to celebrate. "We still rank third in the nation for the total amount of toxins released to the environment," he said. "That equals over 100 pounds of toxic pollution per Utah resident."

The Toxic Release Inventory is a compilation of industry reports on some 650 regulated chemicals discarded into the environment. More than 25,000 facilities submitted documentation for the 2003 report, EPA officials said.

The report shows that five Nevada mines that have entered a voluntary emissions reduction program with the state and the EPA spewed into the atmosphere 3,830 pounds of mercury, a neurotoxin that can accumulate in fish and those who eat fish.

A phosphate processing plant in Soda Springs, Idaho, emitted 620 pounds of mercury into the air, topping two of the Nevada gold mines. Kennecott reported 39 pounds of mercury emissions, and the Clean Harbors Aragonite facility in Tooele County reported emitting 0.04 pounds of mercury. All told, 12 companies in the three states reported releasing 4,490 pounds of mercury into the atmosphere.

One of the mines, the Cortez complex in Lander County, Nev., released 1,378 pounds of mercury, making it the seventh-highest emitter of that element in the United States.

Utah companies reported 241,995,287 total pounds of toxic chemicals released to the environment in 2003, with 99 percent released on site.

Mike Zucker, an environmental scientist with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, said Utah's mining industry keeps it at the top of the toxins list because of the mass quantities of rock it moves.

The report didn't include mine data until 1998, which Rick Sprott, state Division of Air Quality chief, said was a good move. The problem is, he said, Kennecott's big numbers could overshadow more significant toxic releases. "It actually would be more informative to the public if we could figure out how to differentiate between those kinds of releases . . . and things being spewed into the air or dumped into a river," he said.

Groenewold agreed. For example, he said, Utah ranks No. 1 in the nation for releases of dioxin, a carcinogen. Dioxin releases are reported in grams, not pounds, but the chemical could be a far more serious threat to public health than chemicals Kennecott releases.

U.S. Magnesium is the source of most of the dioxins.

The company used to be the worst toxic polluter overall in the nation, emitting 57 million pounds of chlorine into the air each year. Cleaner technology allowed the company to cut that to 2.9 million pounds of chlorine in 2003, a 92 percent reduction overall.

"It's a bit of a silver lining in this otherwise scary murky toxic soup we're exposed to," Groenewold said.