Virginia industry released 3.2 percent fewer toxic chemicals into the environment in 2004 than the previous year, according to the latest Toxics Release Inventory produced by the Department of Environmental Quality.

Even more significant was the progress made in a group of chemicals known as “persistent bioaccumulative toxics,” which remain in the environment for long periods of time and can build up in living tissue. Releases of these persistent chemicals in 2004 declined 20.6 percent from the year before.

Virginia is moving in the right direction. If industry can maintain these gains year after year — through on-plant recycling, incineration, chemical substitution and other strategies — we can look forward to 30 percent improvement in toxic chemicals and truly dramatic reductions in the persistent, bioaccumulative toxins over the next decade.

I would have expected more press coverage of this good news, but the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star is the only newspaper that I’ve noticed has picked it up.