Articles
Longer-form pieces on EPA ECHO data, the Toxic Release Inventory, Clean Air Act enforcement, environmental justice, and how to research industrial facilities in your community.
Lead Emissions from Manufacturing: Sources and Declining Trends
Lead is one of the most closely tracked TRI chemicals. Emissions have fallen dramatically since 1990, but industrial sources remain significant.
Methane Reporting Under EPA's GHGRP: What Gets Captured
EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program tracks industrial methane emissions. Here's how it works and how it relates to TRI data.
How to Look Up Any Industrial Facility's EPA Compliance History
EPA ECHO contains compliance and enforcement data on hundreds of thousands of regulated facilities. Here's how to use EmissionsLookup to navigate it.
What Is the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)? A Plain-English Guide
The TRI is one of the most important environmental databases in the world — and it's free and public. Here's what it captures and what it doesn't.
PFAS in the TRI: How "Forever Chemicals" Get Tracked
PFAS compounds were added to TRI reporting in recent years. Here's what the data captures about these persistent pollutants and where they're being released.
Reading EPA ECHO Compliance Quarters: What the Numbers Mean
The "quarters with noncompliance" metric in EPA ECHO is one of the most useful signals in facility data. Here's how to interpret it correctly.
Environmental Justice and Industrial Pollution: Who Bears the Burden
Research consistently finds that pollution is not distributed equally across communities. Here's what EPA data reveals about environmental justice patterns.
The Clean Air Act's Enforcement Mechanism Explained
The Clean Air Act is the primary federal law regulating industrial air emissions. Here's how its permit, inspection, and enforcement system actually works.
Top Industries by TRI Releases: What the 2023 Data Shows
Which industries release the most toxic chemicals in the U.S.? TRI data for the 2023 reporting year reveals the dominant sources.
VOCs, NOx, and Ozone: How Industrial Emissions Create Smog
Ground-level ozone doesn't come directly from factories — it forms from chemical reactions between VOC and NOx emissions. Here's the chemistry and the data.