Virginia industries pumped 28,200 tons of toxins into the commonwealth's air, water and land in 2005, according to the latest pollutant report.

The director of the state Department of Environmental Quality thinks that's encouraging.

In a press release, DEQ director David Paylor said the volume was a 9.7 percent decrease from 2004 and much better than the 3 percent increase the federal Environmental Protection Agency reported nationwide.

Those numbers don't include toxins disposed of off-site, which are categorized separately. The DEQ said Virginia industries transported another 36,250 tons to wastewater treatment plants, landfills, recycling facilities and other disposal sites.

Those numbers come from the federal Toxics Release Inventory, which also ranks the state's top polluters. Two of Virginia's top 10 polluters and five of the top 20 are in the New River and Roanoke valleys and the Alleghany Highlands: Meadwestvaco's Covington plant and the ammunition plant near Radford are in the top 10. The others include Georgia-Pacific's paper mill in Bedford County and three facilities in Giles County: Appalachian Power's coal-fired power plant in Glen Lyn and the Cinergy Solutions and Celanese Acetate plants in Narrows.

An annual report tracking 666 toxic chemicals and chemical classes, the TRI is self-reported. Companies estimate what happens to the toxic chemicals they use and report those estimates to federal and state environmental agencies.

Nationwide, more than 23,000 industrial sites reported putting 2.17 million tons of toxins into the air, water and land. In Virginia, 486 companies reported using 149 of the toxins.

The TRI's roots go back to an industrial chemical leak more than two decades ago in Bhopal, India. Nearly 4,000 people died and thousands of others were disabled by a cloud of methyl isocyanate, according to Union Carbide, the company that owned the plant. Survivors and emergency workers estimate at least 8,000 and as many as 15,000 people died that first week.

What the EPA termed a minor leak of methyl isocyanate occurred in New York in 1984. Union Carbide's plant in Institute, W.Va., which manufactured methyl isocyanate, was temporarily shut down while safety measures were evaluated and improved. Methyl isocyanate is used in the production of pesticides.

In the wake of all that, Congress decided people should know what sort of toxic chemicals are handled at industrial sites. Two years after the disaster in Bhopal, the TRI was created. It is a blunt instrument, measuring only the amount of toxins released, not their relative toxicity. Most are measured in pounds. Some are measured in grams. Their effects range from nausea to death. Some dissipate quickly. Some remain in the environment indefinitely. But each item on the list has negative effects on human health.

The inventory does not include toxic emissions from most non-manufacturing facilities, plants with fewer than 10 employees, or facilities that use less than the trigger amount of chemicals in a year. In most cases, that trigger is 500 pounds.

The rules for reporting toxins have changed since the 2005 numbers were compiled. Under the old rules, a company that used as little as 10 pounds of some persistent bioaccumulative chemicals had to file detailed reports. Persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals -- such as lead and mercury -- remain in the environment for a long time, accumulate in body tissue and are not easily destroyed. Under a new rule, companies can use up to 500 pounds without filling out the detailed form.

The new threshold for reporting other toxins is 2,000 pounds released into the environment, so long as the company handles less than 5,000 pounds of the chemical.

One startling change in this year's report is Meadwestvaco's ranking. The second largest polluter in the state for the past few years, dropped all the way to number 84 in 2005.

It's a mistake.

According to the state's numbers, Meadwestvaco released 32 tons of toxins in 2005. That's about 2,201 fewer tons than 2004.

In comparison, the TRI shows the Covington plant reduced its toxic output -- but not that much. The drop was closer to 92 tons. Company spokeswoman Becky Johnson said the federal numbers are correct.

DEQ spokeswoman Julia Wellman said the agency is conferring with the EPA on the discrepancies.

Four other major polluters in the area also decreased their release of toxins, according to the TRI. Alliant Ammunition and Powder -- the Radford powder plant -- released 129 fewer tons in 2005, according to the company's estimate. Cinergy Solutions of Narrows estimated its toxic releases dropped by more than 39 tons. It's neighbor, Celanese Acetate, reduced its toxic output by more than 162 tons. Georgia Pacific's Big Island mill in Bedford County estimates that it put about 110 few tons of toxins into the environment in 2005.

The only major contributor in this area that increased its toxic output was Appalachian Power's coal-fired electricity generating plant in Glen Lyn. The facility increased its toxic output by nearly 195 tons. The reason is simple, according to Appalachian Power spokesman John Shelpelwich. The plant burned more coal and made more electricity in 2005 than it did in 2004.

The plant burned about 288 million more pounds of coal -- about 1,440 more train cars full -- and produced about 360,000 more megawatt hours of electricity.