By Donna Kemp Spangler ICYMI: DEQ is on Facebook and Twitter, as well as Pinterest, and YouTube. As the shameless promoter of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality I make no apologies—I utilize whatever means to draw attention to our agency and our issues. It’s been an evolving process for this old-school ex-reporter who spent …
Read MoreBy: Amanda Smith Last year, Governor Gary Herbert tasked all state agencies with identifying their core processes and finding ways to increase efficiency and quality. This performance initiative, led by the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB), is designed to improve government services. Process improvements through this SUCCESS Framework will provide measurable results that …
Read MoreBy Bo Call As the snow melts, so does our memory of winter inversions and bad air days. But with the spring and warmer temperatures also comes the summer ozone season. DEQ’s Air Monitoring Center is now gearing up to battle Utah’s other air-quality demon—ozone. And it’s a battle that’s harder to fight. Just like …
Read MoreBy John Whitehead The Willard Bay Diesel Fuel Spill in March 2013, was certainly not a welcome event for anybody—not for Chevron, not for DEQ, and certainly not for Willard Bay State Park, the folks who recreate there, and the animal and plant life that call the reservoir “home.” The cleanup was essentially complete in …
Read MoreBy Walt Baker The one-year anniversary of the Willard Bay diesel spill last month was a sobering reminder of the environmental damage our waterways suffer when oil or chemicals spill into our lakes and streams. While the “hero beavers” did their part to help save the day last year, the folks in our division were …
Read MoreBy Brock LeBaron When we talk about ozone pollution in Utah, we usually think of wintertime ozone in the Uinta Basin and summertime ozone along the Wasatch Front. What we don’t always take into account is the global nature of ozone; what we often view as a localized problem actually comes from a combination of …
Read MoreBy Donna Kemp Spangler It’s easy to blame pollution problems on nameless, faceless environmental bureaucrats. The air is bad, so it must be their fault for giving the green light to industry to pollute in urban areas. Land and water contamination? How could our environmental protectors allow such a thing to happen? We can all …
Read MoreBy Therron Blatter Many years ago, I would ride the Redwood Road bus to and from work. At that time in my life, my decision to take the bus was based on economics and the fact that we only had one vehicle. This arrangement actually worked out quite well. The bus stopped a few blocks …
Read MoreBy Rik Ombach For those of you who are not familiar with Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky Program, it is a voluntary option on your electric bill that supports renewable energy development. Specifically, the program supports wind and solar energy programs throughout Utah and the region as well as educational programs on renewable energy. Each …
Read MoreBy Hilary Arens So how does “Every Day is Earth Day” work at my house? Well, with toddler twins, some days just feel like survival until bedtime! But since both my husband and I are environmentalists and both work for DEQ, we have instilled some habits in our home that even on the busiest days …
Read MoreBy Kate Johnson I grew up in a family that didn’t have money to spare, so my mother was relentless about making us turn off lights, keep the thermostat low, don’t waste water, and so on. The Energy Crisis of the early 1970s led to much media attention about ways to conserve energy, and my …
Read MoreBy Frances Bernards You don’t have to be a mad scientist to either make your own household cleaner or purchase cleaners that are good for you and the environment. It’s very confusing to choose the best cleaners when confronted with labels that say “natural” or “environmentally-friendly” in the grocery store; how can you distinguish between …
Read MoreBy Glade Sowards I work in the Mobile Sources section at DEQ—we’re the folks who look at emissions from vehicles. A few weeks back, a couple of us from the Mobile section bumped into DEQ director Amanda Smith as we were coming back from a meeting. She told us she was glad to run into …
Read MoreBy John Kennington I’m somewhat a tinkerer and like to keep busy at home with an occasional project. So over my 30-plus years in Utah, I’ve stacked up more than a few “home projects” on this modest little abode. As a child of the 1960’s in California, I developed an earthy consciousness that’s kind-of stuck …
Read MoreBy Lisa Mechem Spring is my favorite time of year. Fresh produce begins, trees are budding and daffodils are blooming. My family and I prefer to “eat fresh produce” as much as possible. Bending to weed a garden has gotten to be a bit much, so now I grow tomatoes in pots on the deck …
Read MoreBy Bethany Hyatt Do you, like me make the daily trek out to your mailbox in dread of unwanted junk mail waiting for you? As you make that walk to the mail box, are you hoping that there isn’t only junk mail but a personal letter from a friend, or an invitation to the block …
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Air Quality
Drinking Water
Environmental Response and Remediation
Waste Management and Radiation Control
Water Quality
Executive Director’s Office