By: Tom Daniels May is Bike Month, and DEQ is celebrating by inviting bloggers to share their thoughts on choosing bicycles as an environmentally friendly form of transportation. It’s 5 a.m. I stumble to the bathroom, run water through my hair, brush my teeth and get dressed: shorts, jersey, gloves, jacket and shoes; shoulder on …
Read MoreBy Rusty Lundberg When you’re sitting in the dental chair, you’re probably more concerned about cavities than the X-rays your dentist uses to detect them. It’s easy to forget that dental and medical X-rays deliver the majority of our exposure to man made radiation. New radiation survey meters used by Division of Radiation Control (DRC) …
Read MoreBy Donna Kemp Spangler Editor’s Note: This is the second of a series of posts—published every Wednesday during July—of what DEQ employees are doing to reduce emissions during the 2014 Clear the Air Challenge. When FrontRunner arrived in Ogden in 2008, my goal had been to commute from Ogden to my DEQ office in Salt …
Read MoreBy John Mackey So what is it about nutrients in our water that’s such a big deal? The waters I recreate in aren’t green and soupy; in fact, they look pretty good and have plenty of fish. If I opened the tap and my water was cloudy or had a peculiar smell, I would be …
Read MoreEditor’s Note: This is the first of a series of posts—published every Wednesday during July—of what DEQ employees are doing to reduce emissions during the 2014 Clear the Air Challenge. By Bryce Bird I enjoy a green yard and a productive garden. Unfortunately, when I water and add fertilizer some of the “green” starts moving …
Read MoreBy Mat Carlile We all want to keep our cars running well and our emissions low, particularly during the summer ozone and winter PM2.5 seasons. If your vehicle was built in 1996 or later, you get some extra help keeping your emissions in check from the on-board diagnostics (OBD) system that came with your car. …
Read MoreBy Brandy Cannon Businesses and other sources that emit pollutants into the air often require permits, which set limits on the amount of pollution they can release. Permit writers at the Division of Air Quality (DAQ) are always looking for ways to improve air quality and reduce emissions, particularly the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute …
Read MoreBy 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 …
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