Methyl Bromide Stock Being Correctly Managed

The U.S. EPA released data in September regarding existing stocks of methyl bromide in the United States. The data shows a steady decline in the inventory since 2003, when the Agency began collecting values. The stockpile has decreased from approximately 36 million pounds in 2003 to about 29 million pounds in 2004 to nearly 22 million pounds in 2005. The values present the aggregate inventory held by 35 companies during the period 2003 to 2005.
The release of the data came a little over a week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a lawsuit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) which claimed that EPA’s rule implementing critical use exemptions for methyl bromide in 2005 violated the Montreal Protocol, under which the gas is being phased out. “The phaseout of new production and import and the orderly reduction in the existing inventory that facilitates transition to alternatives are proceeding in a manner consistent with previous successful phaseouts of ozone-depleting substances, such as the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons,” said the EPA. The Agency also stated that since 1994, $150 million has been invested in research for methyl bromide alternatives. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 9/18/06).