Large industries, under fire to reduce toxic emissions, say an important source of pollution remains unchecked: the small company.
"We've been shell-shocked and hammered over the head with this," said George Curtis III, vice president of Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. "The smaller companies don't have to live up to the same level."
Under the federal Community-Right-to-Know Act of 1986, companies required to report on toxic releases must:
* Have 10 or more full-time employees.
* Manufacture, import or process 50,000 pounds or more of a chemical considered toxic by the Environmental Protection Agency.
* Use in manufacturing 10,000 pounds or more of a toxic chemical.
In Virginia, roughly 3,000 industrial plants use an estimated 60,000 chemicals, according to the state Health Department's Bureau of Toxic Substances. Only a fraction of those - 410 manufacturers - reported under the Community-Right-to-Know Act.
Some of the remaining companies probably should have filed; nationwide, EPA officials estimate that only 75 percent of those required to report are complying. But that still leaves about 2,500 facilities about which little information is available.
Those smaller companies also are more likely to lack full-time safety officers to track chemical use, said J.R. Kuhns, who deals with some of the state's largest toxic dischargers as Hopewell's fire marshal.
"We don't have to worry about the plants," Kuhns said. "It's the small private industry that doesn't have the resources for handling chemicals."
Robert Brown, Hopewell's safety engineer, fears that the focus on large companies will force them out of business. "The big industry is going to farm it out to the smaller businesses, where one guy wears five or six hats.
"The big boys at least have safety officers and safety engineers," he said.
State officials disagree. The federal law enables citizens and regulatory agencies to target the largest polluters, they say.
"We're trying to get a realistic picture to determine where the hot spots are," said Wayne T. Halbleib, environmental programs administrator at the state Department of Waste Management. "These are the larger facilities, and they are the larger releasers."
Last year, three Virginia companies were cited for not submitting data to the federal government in 1987, said Mary McDonnell, an EPA case preparation officer.
Phil Carter System Inc. of Newport News was fined $8,500. The fiberglass firm, located at 1014 Jefferson Ave., filed a report in 1988.
The EPA also is considering a fine of $17,000 against Aetna Insulated Wire Co. of Virginia Beach, and one of $25,000 against the John W. Taylor Packing Co. of Hallwood on the Eastern Shore. Both companies filed 1988 reports.
SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA'S TOP 10 TOXIC POLLUTERS
Facility Air Air Water Land Public Other
(fugative) (stack) treatment off-site
N.N. Shipbuilding 597,770 242,590 0 0 523 842,498
Union Camp Corp. 241,445 761,000 342,610 0 0 698
Ford Motor Co. 14,920 1,252,379 0 0 46,600 0
Amoco Oil Co. 478,997 640,232 0 101,000 0 0
Norfolk Shipbuilding 669,400 0 0 0 0 9,500
Hercules Inc. 317,923 308,701 17,019 9,075 0 0
Chesapeake Corp. 4,000 642,250 4,250 0 0 750
Ball Metal Container 486,147 127,030 0 0 4,978 2,020
BASF Corp. 30,450 191,200 4,168 215,260 0 13,960
Howmet Corp. 23,500 62,500 0 0 1,000 239,130
NN Shipbuilding 1,683,381
Union Camp Corp. 1,345,753
Ford Motor Co. 1,313,899
Amoco Oil Co. 1,220,229
Norfolk Shipbuilding 678,900
Hercules Inc. 652,718
Chesapeake Corp. 651,250
Ball Metal Container 620,175
BASF Corp. 455,038
Howmet Corp. 326,130