EPA Apps for the Environment

The EPA has come out with a set of phone and computer apps for green monitoring. The one intriguing us most is this, for water monitoring. Called the Discharge Monitoring Report Pollutant Loading Tool (wordy, but specific!) it allows you to enter your zip code or city and find out what's being discharged into waterways near you. The EPA's information page says this:

"The Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool is a new tool designed to help you determine who is discharging, what pollutants they are discharging and how much, and where they are discharging. . . .The tool ranks dischargers, industries, and watersheds based on pollutant mass and toxicity, and presents “top ten” lists to help you determine which discharges are important, which facilities and industries are producing these discharges, and which watersheds are impacted.

"The tool also includes wastewater pollutant discharge data from EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Data is available for the years 2007 through 2010." To get started or just check it out, look at the EZ Search here.

There are similar new apps for monitoring air quality. These innovations came from a challenge the EPA issued. Want to read about the winners, and the full range of apps? Look here.

I did a basic water-discharge search on my desktop entering the city of Detroit and asking for "all pollutants" in the year 2010. Wow. I'm seeing 2 1/2 million pounds of phosphorus, 46 thousand of chlorine, 13 thousand of cyanide, to name a few.

This could be a real plus in activism and education. Knowing about and using these tools gives each of us a leg up we haven't had before, saving us a great deal of research time and helping us raise the awareness of our communities in general.

What do you think? Will you use these tools? Do you see a potential change in the trajectory of our movement(s) with such ready information? Let us know what you do with the EPA's Apps for the Environment. Make sure to look over the list of winners and runners-up. There are apps for finding the best lightbulb, the shortest, greenest, fastest way through town, and environmental video games. Fun and inspiring.

Posted by Sierra Club volunteer Rebecca Hammond