Utah DEQ News

Snow Blower Exchange Helps You Clean Your Driveway and Our Air

DEQ, Rocky Mountain Power, and UCAIR are partnering for the first-annual 2018 Electric Snow Blower Exchange. The Exchange will offer 432 electric snow blowers at a discounted price to encourage the use of clean-emissions snow blowers during the inversion season. Registration begins October 1, 2018, and ends October 11, 2018.

Panguitch Lake Closed Due to High Toxin Levels

The Southwestern Utah Health Department has issued a Danger Advisory/Closure for Panguitch Lake based on extremely high toxin levels in the lake from an ongoing cyanobacteria bloom. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) contacted livestock operators in the area to recommend they prevent their cattle from drinking water from the reservoir and downstream sources.

Make Your Voice Heard and Your Comments Count

Public participation matters! The Utah Department of Environmental Quality is committed to using the public notice and comment process to improve its decisionmaking. Here are some tips for making effective comments on agency permits, rules, and decisions.

Tips on Protecting Your Lungs During Wildfires

Wondering what steps they can take to protect their health from wildfire smoke? Attached is a helpful graphic with a few tips on ways to ensure you and your loved ones can breathe easily.

“Get Into The River Festival” Celebrates the Jordan River Parkway

Come join the fun at the fifth-annual Get Into The River Festival at the Jordan River Parkway. From nature walks to cleanup efforts to canoeing to a neighborhood barbeque, there’s something for everybody at this monthlong celebration of the Jordan River.

Utah’s Air: Double-Punch of Ozone and Wildfires this Summer

How did Utah’s air this summer compare with other years? Not the worst, but not the best. Wildfires and ozone meant more air pollution than previous years.

That “Idle-Free” Thing: Change is in the Air

Idle-Free awareness continues to grow in Utah as more cities adopt idle-free ordinances and residents change their driving habits. Kids spearheaded the Idle-Free movement, but all of us can make a difference by spreading the word and raising awareness about the benefits of being idle-free.

Radon Testing on Goshute Reservation Helps Improve Tribal Health

Utah DEQ teamed up with the University of Utah to test homes on the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation for a variety of environmental contaminants, including radon. When five of the 11 homes tested showed elevated levels of radon, mitigation company Radovent volunteered to install mitigation systems on two of the homes for free.

Oil and Water Don’t Mix: The Price River Crude Oil Spill

The unique “solidifying” qualities of Uinta Basin crude and multi-agency cooperation facilitated the quick cleanup of the recent Price River oil spill.

Peck Rock and Products, LLC Saratoga Springs Landfill

Corrective measures taken on the landfill site are complete. DEQ plan to coordinate an available and informal walk-in open house where interested residents can come by within a given time frame and ask questions or raise any issues they feel still remain.

Wildfire’s Impact on Our Environment

Widespread wildfires in summertime —and, now, even springtime—are rapidly becoming the “new normal” in the American West. Along with the destruction and loss of forest caused by blazes, there are immediate and long-term environmental impacts that dramatically affect vital resources.

Danger Advisory Lifted for Lincoln Marina (2018)

The Utah County Health Department reopened the Lincoln Marina today after test results showed cyanobacteria cell-count concentrations dropped below the threshold for a Danger Advisory. The Lincoln Marina continues to exceed recreation health-based thresholds and has been placed under a Warning Advisory.

Sandy ONE Water Way: Your One-Stop Shop for All Your Water Needs

Sandy ONE Water Way offers Sandy City residents a web portal that provides them with a suite of programs they can use to protect and conserve water.

Price River Oil Spill

A tanker truck carrying crude oil along Highway 6 rolled over on July 12, 2018, and released approximately 750-1,000 gallons of crude oil into the Price River. The Department of Environmental Quality joined emergency personnel at the scene to contain the spill and protect water quality in the Price River.

TRAX Trains Keep Air-Quality Research on Track

Air monitors placed on TRAX trains to measure pollutant levels provided University of Utah researchers with new insights into air-pollution patterns along the Wasatch Front.

Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Warning Advisory Issued for Scofield Reservoir (2018)

The Southeast Health Department issued a harmful algal bloom (HAB) Warning Advisory for Scofield Reservoir after Division of Water Quality (DWQ) samples showed that cyanobacteria cell counts and anatoxin-a levels exceeded health-based thresholds. The Madsen Bay Boat Ramp, Mountain View Boat Ramp, and Boy Scout Camp show the heaviest bloom activity.

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