TORONTO -- Electricity plant emissions and waste made up the largest portion of industrial pollution in Canada and the United States in 1998, according to a report issued Friday.
The study by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation said the power plant releases amounted to more than 40 percent of air pollution that year and 25 percent of all industrial pollution.
It cited the U.S. states of Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania as the top three polluters of 1998, followed by the Canadian province of Ontario.
Created under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the commission compiles an annual survey of pollution sources titled ''Taking Stock.'' This year's report, its fifth, was the first to include the electricity industry. The information comes from mandatory industry reports, and commission spokesman Charles Dickson acknowledged the study was unable to provide a comprehensive summary of pollution in North America.
Mexico has yet to start reporting on its pollution, and some sectors of U.S. and Canadian industries such as motor vehicles, agriculture and some kinds of mining also lack reporting systems.
''We just take the data that the governments give us,'' Dickson said, adding that if total figures for all pollution were available, the study would show that ''the overall picture is worse.''
According to the report, 77 percent of air pollution from electricity plants in 1998 was hydrochloric and sulfuric acid that can become acid rain.
Other industries listed as major polluters were the metals sector, which includes steel mills -- along with the chemical industry, the hazardous waste management industry and paper producers.
This article published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, July 21, 2001.
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