Toxic pollution of West Virginia's air increased slightly in 2006, while releases into the state's rivers and streams dropped by nearly one-quarter, according to the latest yearly federal report.

Together, direct toxic releases to air and water were up about 2 percent over 2005 figures, according to the annual Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI.

Air pollution accounted for the jump, and coal-fired power plants remained by far the state's largest source of air emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report.

Power plants released 59.6 million pounds of toxic air pollution, accounting for 86 percent of total air emissions in West Virginia, according to data reported by industry to the EPA.

Chemical manufacturing ranked a distant second, with a little more than 5 million pounds of total toxic pollution, according to the EPA.

Statewide, though, chemical makers accounted for more than 80 percent of toxic water discharges, or about 2.7 million pounds, the EPA data showed.

Total water pollution in West Virginia dropped by about 24 percent in 2006, to 3.3 million pounds.

The EPA issued the annual pollution report card on Thursday, noting that the February publication was the earliest release date in the program's 20-year history.

"Citizens have information about hundreds of chemicals at their fingertips, and we're getting that information to them faster than ever with improvements made in electronic reporting, data processing and analysis," said the EPA's chief information officer, Molly O'Neill.

"Making the public aware of this inventory of releases is a powerful tool for reducing pollution. From 2001 to 2006, we have seen a 24 percent decrease in total releases."

But the latest EPA report comes as the agency faces a lawsuit over a December 2006 rule change that reduces pollution disclosures required of industry.

Toxic pollution of West Virginia's air increased slightly in 2006, while releases into the state's rivers and streams dropped by nearly one-quarter, according to the latest yearly federal report.

Together, direct toxic releases to air and water were up about 2 percent over 2005 figures, according to the annual Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI.

Air pollution accounted for the jump, and coal-fired power plants remained by far the state's largest source of air emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report.

Power plants released 59.6 million pounds of toxic air pollution, accounting for 86 percent of total air emissions in West Virginia, according to data reported by industry to the EPA.

Chemical manufacturing ranked a distant second, with a little more than 5 million pounds of total toxic pollution, according to the EPA.

Statewide, though, chemical makers accounted for more than 80 percent of toxic water discharges, or about 2.7 million pounds, the EPA data showed.

Total water pollution in West Virginia dropped by about 24 percent in 2006, to 3.3 million pounds.

The EPA issued the annual pollution report card on Thursday, noting that the February publication was the earliest release date in the program's 20-year history.

"Citizens have information about hundreds of chemicals at their fingertips, and we're getting that information to them faster than ever with improvements made in electronic reporting, data processing and analysis," said the EPA's chief information officer, Molly O'Neill.

"Making the public aware of this inventory of releases is a powerful tool for reducing pollution. From 2001 to 2006, we have seen a 24 percent decrease in total releases."

But the latest EPA report comes as the agency faces a lawsuit over a December 2006 rule change that reduces pollution disclosures required of industry.

The rule change raised reporting thresholds up to 10 times above old requirements, meaning companies would have to release more pollution before having to tell the EPA and the public about it.

At the same time, the EPA's public disclosure reports continue to provide less detailed information than they previously did.

For example, EPA state-level fact sheets - used by most media outlets to prepare stories - formerly provided a list of each state's major polluters. Now that information must be pulled out of an online database or calculated from complicated computer files.

Strictly speaking, the TRI data does not analyze health or environmental effects of any of the releases documented. But the publication of the figures has been widely credited with large pollution reductions over the last two decades.

In West Virginia, the EPA data shows that the largest single polluter is the John Amos Power Plant in Putnam County. The American Electric Power facility's nearly 22 million pounds of toxic releases also ranked it as the 20th largest polluter in the country, a jump from 23rd in 2005, according to EPA data.

In West Virginia, total toxic releases to air, land and water was down about 3 percent in 2006, to 85 million pounds, according to the EPA.

Statewide, total toxic air emissions were up by about 3 percent in 2006, to 70.6 million pounds. That's also up slightly from 69.9 million pounds in 2002, according to the EPA data.

The EPA started the pollution inventory and public reporting of toxic emissions in 1987. The figures released publicly always lag two years behind because companies report annual releases the following July, and the EPA then compiles the data into various reports.

When the EPA kicked off the program, it was responding to a congressional mandate following the 1984 chemical disaster at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, and a smaller leak the following year at Carbide's plant in Institute.

EPA toxic pollution information is available online at www.epa.gov/tri/.

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.