Click here to view graph of 24-hour average concentrations of total toxic chemicals at the Cameron County, Texas Courthouse.
Air dispersion modeling was performed in order to predict ambient
air concentrations of total toxic chemicals which originated from
industrial operations in Matamoros. An emission inventory was developed which
represented total toxic chemicals emitted from 48 separate facilities.
They included industrial facilities in Matamoros, two industrial
facilities in Brownsville with "twin plant" operations
in Matamoros, and the municipal dump located on the southern edge
of Matamoros. Emissions inventories were developed for several
years; listed below is the emissions inventory for 1991.
Total Toxic Chemical Facility Emissions (tons) Aerotech 2.4 AT&T - Plant I & II 17 Auto Trim 39 Breed Automotive 78 Brownsville Rubber 19 Cepillos 60 Componentes Mecanicos 2197 Condura - Plant I 39 Cooper 5.0 CTS 113 Daniel Matamoros (Danmasa) 0.8 Deltronicos 179 Dura/Wickes 5.0 Ensambladora 221 Fisher Price 5.7 Formitec 445 Gobar 10 Hunter Fan 11 Industrias Thompson (ITT) 0.7 Kearfott 2.0 Kemet - Plant I 316 Kemet - Plant II 6.8 Leece Neville 18 Lepco 1.9 LVI/KLH - Painting 0.2 Magnatek Brownsville 125 Magnetek Matamoros 87 Maquiladora General (Rohm & Haas) 134 Metales Federados 2.9 Neco/Sunbeam 50 Porta Systems 2.1 Productos de Preservacion 0.6 Puertas y Vidrios 1.0 Quimica Fluor 165 Ranco 39 Remir 987 Stepan 155 Summit Componentes 84 Teccor #1 2.0 Teccor #2 16 Terralta 0.6 Trico Brownsville 0.5 Trico Matamoros 135 Victoreen 3.3 Zenith (Electropartes) 547 Matamoros City Dump 9,707 Total 16,038
The "toxic chemical cloud" which resulted from these emissions was a complex combination of pollutants which included aromatic compounds like styrene, toluene and xylene; polynuclear aromatic compounds such as benzo (a) pyrene, dibenz (a,h) anthracene, benzo (b) fluorathane, and crysene; chlorinated hydrocarbons like vinyl chloride, trichloroethane, and trichlorotrifluoroethane; dioxins and furans, including 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin; heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, and lead; and acid gases like sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and hydrogen fluoride. Many of the constituents that made up the toxic chemical cloud have the potential to adversely impact human health.
Return to Stone Lions Environmental Corporation Home Page.