By Ken Bousfield It’s easy to take your safe drinking water for granted, whether it’s coming out of your kitchen faucet or the tap at your son’s Boy Scout camp. One of our jobs at the Division of Drinking Water is to conduct sanitary surveys—onsite inspections of drinking water systems—to ensure that the water they …
Read MoreBy Donna Kemp Spangler DEQ employees constantly inspire me to “up my game” when it comes to environmental stewardship. And each of them is a walking reminder that each person can make a difference. A significant and growing number of DEQ employees take mass transit or carpool to work. Air Quality Director Bryce Bird drives a …
Read MoreBy Paul Krauth Typically, DEQ is at the forefront of efforts to make Utah more “green,” but when it comes to our state waters, being green isn’t good. That’s why we are proposing a new rule to limit the amount of phosphorus that wastewater plants can put into our waterways. Two pollutants that are really stressing …
Read MoreBy Frances Bernards As a consultant for DEQ’s business assistance program, I help businesses realize the environmental and cost-saving benefits of energy efficiency. The Third Annual Governor’s Energy Development Summit held this week (June 3-4) devotes an entire track to the topic. Why? The opportunities for energy efficiency are rapidly improving due to the availability …
Read MoreBy Karen Wallner Have you noticed how many people seem to be commuting by bicycle these days? Have you found yourself wondering whether you have the right bike, the right clothes, or even the right information to get started? If so, you’re not alone. As part of DEQ’s Green Team Bike Month activities, we partnered …
Read MoreBy Brent Everett The Division of Environmental Response and Remediation (DERR) is committed to making our programs as open and transparent to the public as possible. That’s one reason my staff and I are proud of DERR’s Interactive Map, a web-based tool that helps the public locate information about Superfund sites, Brownfields, underground storage tanks …
Read MoreBy 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 …
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Air Quality
Drinking Water
Environmental Response and Remediation
Waste Management and Radiation Control
Water Quality
Executive Director’s Office