EPA's new tool for water pollution data
January 25, 2012
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces a new tool for pollutant visibility called the Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool. EPA bills it as "a new tool designed to help you determine who [what company] is discharging, what pollutants they are discharging and how much, and where they are discharging."
It's basically a searchable database. The tool consolidates
millions of records for easy lookup from different criteria points of view. For instance, you can find all information related to a:
- local area
- particular watershed
- company
- industry sector
- certain pollutant
What this means for business is that the public and the media now have quick and easy access to details about your waste streams in a way that may not have existed before. Transparency is the new black, as it were.
If your company does not yet have internal tools to regulate waste stream data, it's advisable to put some in place now.
“Transparency leads to greater accountability and better information about pollution in our nation’s communities,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
Chemicals in particular
In 2011, EPA submitted a proposal of 30 currently unregulated contaminants for monitoring in water systems. View or download the list of proposed chemical contaminants here.
The list includes:
- hormones, such as equilin, estrone, and testosterone
- volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as methyl chloride and methyl bromide
- 1,4-dioxane
- anadium, molybdenum, cobalt, strontium
- chlorate
- perflourinated compounds, such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS)
- enteroviruses and noroviruses
Compliance demands that all chemicals and materials used in manufacturing are tracked, even ones stored and/or used in processes, as these of course end up in a waste stream.
EPA's webinar: Intro to DMR - [update: webinar passed]
WHAT: A webinar to demonstrate how to use the new Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool. [We're assuming this webinar will be posted somewhere for continued viewing, and will amend this article with relevant news as warranted.]
WHO: Members of the media, non-profit organizations, industry, business, and citizens interested in learning how to use the tool are encouraged to participate.
WHEN: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 10 a.m., Eastern Time
HOW: To participate, please use the following dial-in numbers.
Audio Contact Instruction:
(1) Dial the toll-free dial-in number: (866) 358 1366
(2) At the recorded prompt, enter the Conference Code (2025661014) and the "#" sign, using the telephone keypad.
(3) Wait for the Leader to join and the conference to begin.
(4) To disconnect, hang up the telephone.
To access the Webinar use GoToWebinar link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/192410536
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