The answer is obviously yes -- yet the information is rarely accessible. The Toxics Right to Know Committee (TRKC) wants Eugeneans to have that information and has launched a city ballot initiative for a charter amendment requiring certain companies to report the manufacture, use, storage, transportation and release of toxic chemicals, and that the information be readily available to any citizen.

The amendment will govern companies with an annual usage of 2,640 pounds or more of the toxics covered by the proposed law -- an estimated 30-40 companies. These firms will be required to provide a "materials balance" sheet tracking the substances they bring in to determine where they end up -- in the product, hauled away stored, or released into the environment; the information will be accessible at the Eugene Public Library. This will be the first use of materials balance accounting in the country.

Currently, companies are only required to report use of hazardous substances to the Fire Marshal. This information should be available to the public, but try to get it. the Fire Marshal will provide a list of local companies noting that some 1000 of them use some flammable substance. A fee is charged for a detailed list of who uses how much of what must be purchased, but the Marshal doesn't know what it is.

The federal Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) law set up after the Bhopal tragedy, requires industry to disclose quantities, locations and releases on only 330 chemicals. Information on the most dangerous 145 is available from the State Fire Marshal -- but only on the total amounts used. The EPA lists come out only every two years.

The TRK ballot measure covers about 1000 substances defined as toxic or hazardous on several different federal agencies lists. The measure also defines the properties of hazardous materials, which will add an undetermined additional number of substances. Additions to any of these lists will automatically be incorporated. However, TRKC spokesperson Steve Johnson warns that these lists are "compromise" lists developed in tug-of-war debates between federal agencies and industry.

Federal and state laws also exempt some toxics from reporting requirements. The "innocent until proven guilty" rule is erroneously applied to chemicals, Johnson said, "Chemicals should be viewed as dangerous until proven innocent." Johnson works for Design Research, which specialized in risk assessment, studying how people perceive risk and how it is communicated; TKRC co-chair Jennifer Gleason is an environmental attorney.

The "trade secret" loophole by which manufacturers evade reporting on the grounds that it will reveal their formulas is handled by requiring an independent audit to review a company's process and verify that all proper safety measures are being used and that the technology used is the safest available.

When TRI went into effect over tremendous industry opposition, manufacturers scoffed at the estimated release figure of 85 million pounds of toxics. When the real figure was found to be several billion pounds, industry itself got alarmed -- not at the emissions so much as the waste -- clean-up proved cost-effective.

The measure will apply to all manufacturers, hazardous waste disposal incinerators, and solid waste incinerators dealing with infectious (medical) waste. State, federal and public education institutions are exempt, having only to obey being governed by state and federal laws. And, while the law will address the large users, emissions of small users can substantially add up.

Following initial start-up expenses, the law is designed to be self-supporting via annual fees paid by the affected businesses. A seven-person Toxics Board will oversee implementation of the measure, three from affected businesses, three with a "demonstrable record of advocating the public's right-to-know," and one chosen by a two-third majority of the six. The board shall set fees, report names of those in non-compliance to Fire Marshal, who will investigate, and set fines between $250 and $25,000.

TKRC must gather 8,688 signatures by the end of July to put the measure on the November 5 ballot.