The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of 60 major manufacturing and mining firms it says are operating below environmental standards. A study carried out by the EPA reveals that virtually all the major firms, including AngloGold Ashanti, Guinness Ghana Breweries, Coca Cola Bottling Company do not meet the EPA’s requirements. The Environmental Performance Rating tracked the adherence to environmental standards of manufacturing and mining firms in the country from January to December in 2009. Joy Businesses’ George Wiafe reports that the the ratings measured the environmental performance of 11 major mining firms and 49 manufacturing firms on how they met the legal requirements in hazardous waste management, toxic releases and non-toxic releases and monitoring and reporting. The rest are environmental best practice, community complaints and corporate social responsibility. The study rated the companies according to a five colour-coded scheme; red for poor performance up to gold for excellent. It says almost all the companies scored a red for poor performance meaning they failed to meet EPAs standards whiles creating risks from toxic and hazardous wastes mismanagement and discharges. With the exception of Abosso Goldfields and Ghana Manganese which were overall rated Orange all the other mining firms were rated red. The EPA says the initiative is aimed at naming and shaming the guilty companies so they would step up their game. Source: Joy Business/Ghana