EPA Releases New Interactive Tool with Information About Water Pollution Across the U.S.

From a Recent EPA Announcement:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of a new tool that provides the public with important information about pollutants that are released into local waterways. Developed under President Obama’s transparency initiative, the Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool brings together millions of records and allows for easy searching and mapping of water pollution by local area, watershed, company, industry sector, and pollutant.
[Clip]
Searches using the DMR Pollutant Loading Tool result in “top ten” lists to help users easily identify facilities and industries that are discharging the most pollution and impacted waterbodies. When discharges are above permitted levels, users can view the violations and link to details about enforcement actions that EPA and states have taken to address these violations.
Facilities releasing water pollution directly into our nation’s waterways, such as wastewater treatment plants or industrial manufacturers, must receive a permit to discharge under the Clean Water Act. Each permit sets specific limits for how much can be discharged. It also requires the permittee to frequently sample their wastewater discharges and report the data to their state or EPA permitting authority.

Read the Complete Announcement
Direct to Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool (via ECHO Database)
Direct to ECHO Database (Several Additional Databases)
Hat Tip/Thanks: SLA Public Policy Connections/Doug Newcomb

Filed under: Associations and Organizations, Data Files, News, Patrons and Users