Air And Water Pollution Plan In Valparaiso, Indiana
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 120 million Americans live in areas where the air is unhealthy. The Bush administration developed a plan called the Clear Skies initiative and submitted it to Congress in February 2003 as a proposal to amend the Clean Air Act, which is the primary federal law governing air quality. But "Clear Skies" is a clear misnomer, because if Congress passes the Clear Skies bill, the result will be to weaken and delay health protections already required under the law (The White House 2007).
The Department of Water Works has a Wellhead Protection management plan in place that protects all its public wells. The Plan consists of: managing potential sources of contamination that includes an inventory database of all hazardous chemicals store within Wellhead Protections Areas, monitoring compliance, record keeping, identifying abandoned wells, monitoring use of pesticides, notifying property owners in the Wellhead Protection Areas, educating owners of potential contaminant sources, increasing public awareness, implementing a contingency plan, establishing overlay districts, adding monitoring wells around the Wellhead Protection Areas, participating in city and county site plan reviews, monitoring underground storage tanks, encouraging the extension of sewers and public water lines, and supporting and promoting the use of the Porter County Household Hazardous Waste Collections Program (The Groundwater Foundation 2006). Management of the plan is achieved by using existing Federal, State and Local laws and promoting "Best Management Practices" by those who live and work within the Wellhead Protection Areas (The Groundwater Foundation 2006).
An effective Wellhead Protection Program must provide for public awareness and education in order make individual behavior changes that lead to participation in environmental protection of land and water. Target audiences are the school children at all grade levels, the...
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