The amount of chemicals released into the environment by companies participating in a pilot reporting program fell slightly in 1997 compared with the year before, according to the Environment Agency.
An agency report, the second on a pilot program being implemented in three areas around the country, surveyed companies on their release and transfer of 176 chemicals. It found that the amount of chemicals released by the 692 companies that responded to the 1996 and 1997 surveys dropped from 15,500 tons to 15,100 tons.
The report also shows a net drop among the 20 most released chemicals, with emissions of 13 dropping and seven increasing.