Toxic emissions reported by industry in Delaware increased sharply in 2006, the most recent year for which records are available.
The increase in pollution reported mainly reflected the fact that companies previously underestimated their emissions, state regulators said.
The figures appeared in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's 20th "Toxic Release Inventory," a report compiled annually as part of a federal program.
The industrial pollution report relies on companies to calculate their own emissions. Some companies improved the accuracy of reporting on their own, while others were ordered to do so by the state.
Releases to the environment from the state's 15 largest facilities rose to nearly 11.2 million pounds, up from 8.4 million pounds in 2005. Hydrochloric and sulfuric acid gas emissions from the state's power plants accounted for about 80 percent of the total.
"It's a choice between remaining ignorant of the emissions and looking good or looking bad and improving the accuracy" of testing, reports and public disclosures, said James Werner, DNREC director of air and waste management.
There were some bright spots. Releases of carcinogens from state plants fell 4 percent, led by a 46 percent -- or 33,000-pound -- decrease in emissions of vinyl chloride, a highly toxic gas mostly released from the Formosa Plastics plant in Delaware City.
Despite the rise of total pollution reported, pollutants released to the air declined slightly, from 6.47 million pounds to 6.34 million pounds during 2006.
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