MY-RTK Lets Users Probe Toxic Emissions from Their Smartphones [1]
myRTK lets you thumb in an address or ZIP code and get back a map or list of Toxics Release Inventory facilities on your feature phone or smart phone.
myRTK lets you thumb in an address or ZIP code and get back a map or list of Toxics Release Inventory facilities on your feature phone or smart phone.
This new tool allows any user online to create custom study areas based on a wide range of variables: address, ZIP code, county, city, township, facility, watershed, or geographic coordinates. Other environmental data can then be mapped onto that study area.
The beta tool allows anyone to compare TRI information from a facility to air pollution data from the same facility or a related one. For example, an investigator could find inconsistencies in the amount of pollution reported by a facility under the two separate laws.
This newly powerful, easy-to-use mapping tool can help environmental journalists find and report great local and regional stories.
The new record for getting raw data reported by industry to the general public: 28 days. Nearly 95 percent of reporting companies filed their reports electronically.
The WatchDog attended EPA's annual training conference for government workers on the Toxics Release Inventory, Nov. 1-3, 2010. See a preview of the showcased offerings, which have extra emphasis on environmental justice and EPA data tools ranging far beyond TRI.
Viewing local, regional, national, and global water issues through the lens of "peak water," a concept explained in a Pacific Institute paper, can yield some interesting angles on water-related stories and long-term water issues.
Arizona State University researchers find a major shift in top fish predators in 36 North American waterways, resulting in reduced availability of fish caught for food or sport, and long-term changes in riparian ecology that affect both people and the rest of the environment, sometimes in unpredictable ways.
The BLM is documenting where the mines are, and ramping up efforts to mitigate threats from them, such as water contamination, traps for people and animals, and deteriorating old explosives lurking in some dark corners.
If EPA's health-based primary standard is reduced from its current level of 75 parts per billion to 60 ppb, which is the low end of what the agency's science advisors have recommended, about 67% of the US population would live in monitored counties that would be out of compliance.
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/chemicals/my-rtk-lets-users-probe-toxic-emissions-their-smartphones
[2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/watchdog-tipsheet
[3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology
[4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution
[5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government
[6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics
[7] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81
[8] https://www.sej.org/publications/chemicals/epa-gives-public-environmental-justice-mapping-tool-ejview
[9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population
[10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health
[11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health
[12] https://www.sej.org/publications/chemicals/tri-offers-new-comparative-query-tool
[13] https://www.sej.org/publications/chemicals/envirofacts-warehouse-gets-geographic-makeover-update
[14] https://www.sej.org/publications/chemicals/tri-goes-electronic-speed-records-fall
[15] https://www.sej.org/publications/chemicals/cool-tools-reporters-showcased-2010-tri-meeting
[16] https://www.sej.org/publications/people-population/peak-water-new-way-look-long-term-water-issues
[17] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/tipsheet
[18] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water
[19] https://www.sej.org/publications/climate-change/study-fish-are-getting-whipsawed-people-climate-change
[20] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/food
[21] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change
[22] https://www.sej.org/publications/disasters/25000-abandoned-mines-are-just-beginning
[23] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land
[24] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster
[25] https://www.sej.org/publications/air/new-ozone-standards-could-have-big-impact
[26] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws
[27] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air
[28] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A
[29] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=201
[30] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=198
[31] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=199
[32] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=200
[33] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=203
[34] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=204
[35] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=205
[36] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=206
[37] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A?page=323
[38] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/Watchdog+TipSheet