Montreal, 12 April 2011-The 13th edition of the Taking Stock report, released today by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), provides the most comprehensive picture of industrial pollution across North America, documenting reported releases and transfers of 5.7 billion kilograms of pollutants from facilities reporting to pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR) programs in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

This year's report features an analysis of the more than 228 million kilograms of pollutant releases reported to surface waters across the three countries. Taking Stock reveals that just two of the 256 pollutants released to surface waters made up 90 percent of the total volume: nitrate compounds and ammonia.