Big Spring Carbon Black Plant

Big Spring Carbon Black Plant is an EPA-reporting industrial facility located in Big Spring, TX, identified in the federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) under facility ID 79721SDRCHPOBOX. Spring News tracks environmental reporting for facilities in our coverage area as part of ongoing community accountability journalism.

The facility is operated by Tokai Carbon CB and is one of multiple sites in the Tokai Carbon CB corporate footprint. Corporate parents are required to file consolidated TRI reports for U.S. operations meeting industry-sector and chemical-threshold criteria.

The site's primary industry classification is industrial. Facilities in this sector are required to report annual releases of more than 600 toxic chemicals identified by the EPA when they manufacture, process, or otherwise use chemicals above federal reporting thresholds. The TRI program, established under the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, exists specifically to give residents like those in Big Spring information about toxic releases in their community.

What does TRI reporting mean? The TRI database is a public record of how much of each regulated chemical a facility releases into the air, water, and land each calendar year — plus how much is transferred off-site for disposal, recycling, or energy recovery. Reporting volume does not by itself indicate health risk; risk depends on chemical toxicity, exposure pathway, population proximity, and many other factors EPA assesses through its Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) program.

Spring News covers environmental compliance, permitting changes, accidents, and EPA enforcement actions affecting Big Spring-area facilities. Residents concerned about specific releases can search the full TRI data at the EPA Envirofacts portal or request facility-specific reports from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) or Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), depending on jurisdiction.

Tip about Big Spring Carbon Black Plant or local environmental issues? Email editor@nexcom.media. For more environmental coverage, visit springnews.org/news. This profile uses data from the EPA Toxic Release Inventory program (Envirofacts) and is updated as facilities file new annual reports.