Pittsburgh – The United Steelworkers (USW) today condemned the decision of the Bush administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow corporations to withhold data on the toxic chemicals they release to the environment.

In a surprise announcement Tuesday, EPA finalized new rules rolling back the Toxic Release Inventory – the federal program designed to give citizens access to information about toxic pollution where they live and work.

Compared to the previous rules, the changes allow corporations to release up to 10 times more pollution without reporting it. The new rules also allow corporations to withhold information about their production and use of the most dangerous toxins – those that accumulate in the body and persist for long periods of time.

EPA’s action is especially shocking given the massive public o