FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 27, 2002
OLYMPIA - How can realtors and real-estate buyers determine if a property is contaminated? How can concerned parents find out what hazardous substances are being used at a business near their children's school? How can citizens learn about the water quality or the air quality where they live?
All of these questions are answered on the state Department of Ecology's (Ecology) Web site.
Located at http://www.ecy.wa.gov, Ecology's Web site is the place to go for environmental information and data about the state of Washington. The site has been redesigned to give the public clearer access to sources of information from the navigation bar on the home page.
"Thanks to computer technology and the World Wide Web, we're able to provide more and more information to the public that used to be stored in file drawers or isolated databases," said Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons.
"We're challenging ourselves to present services and information via the Internet in a way that is meaningful to the people of our state."
For example, the agency has identified 9,000 suspected or confirmed toxic cleanup sites over the past decade. Information about the cleanups is available on http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/mtca_gen/hazsites.html Ecology's Web site by clicking on Services, then Site Cleanup.
To check out a particular property or area, the site identification system can be used to find out if Ecology knows about any environmental problems with it. The path to follow is Services / Facility-Site Identification.
Information on the types and amount of toxic chemicals used by many businesses or public facilities is available under Programs / Hazardous Waste and Toxic Reduction / Hazardous Chemicals in Your Community.
A one-stop shop for professional assistance offered by the agency is also a couple of clicks away. From the home page, click on Services, then Technical Assistance.
Environmental data are available for a variety of audiences, ranging from interested citizens to technical researchers. The site includes information collected by Ecology's air and water monitoring networks, through special studies and by citizen volunteers. In many cases, the data are displayed graphically to make them easier to interpret. See Environmental Information on Ecology's home page.
The Web site also contains a large collection of aerial photos of most of the Puget Sound and coastal shorelines of Washington state. These impressive maps and photos are under Programs / Shorelands / Shoreline Aerial Photos.
"I've even heard of people using the photos to identify areas where they might want to look for a house or property to purchase," Fitzsimmons said.
Bob Monn, Ecology's Web manager, said Ecology's site has been reorganized to make it easier for users to navigate and search the site.
"Until recently, visitors to our site frequently needed some understanding of the agency's organization to find what they were looking for. Now we're giving more attention to our users and how our information is presented to make sure it is easy to find and use," Monn said.
The site is visited by more than 6,000 people each day, and Fitzsimmons said he hopes that number continues to increase and that the information available will assist in building greater awareness and stewardship of our environment.
In 2000, the department received national honors from Resources for the Future, which rated Ecology's site one of the top state environmental Web sites in the country. The group assessed how each state uses the Internet to provide citizens with environmental information, gather public comments on agency decisions and foster networks of interested citizens. See Site Information / Awards and Recognition.
"Whether someone is looking for information on permits, financial assistance or other services, our goal is to make sure users can find information of interest to them," Monn said. "Our Web presence will continue to evolve as the public's interests and priorities evolve."
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