Finally, GIS for Everyone!

GIS is an important tool for many of us in the environmental field. In general, its use has been limited to a few within an environmental organization - largely due to cost. There is, however, a free GIS Viewer on the market that is extremely powerful and easy to use. The TatukGIS Viewer is free to download and use. With TatukGIS you can import just about any spatial data format including your own data in comma delinited format. You can render complex surfaces, produce maps, just about anything...all for free!

TatukGIS was constructed using Delphi, the same programming environment that Cox-Colvin uses to produce Data Inspector. In fact, you can expect to see a full fledge GIS system built in Data Inspector soon using TatukGIS' powerful GIS tools. Stay tuned...in the mean time download the Viewer, or the Editor ($350) at www.TatukGIS.com and learn how easy and affordable GIS can be.

Outlining President Obama's Agenda for the Environment

On January 23, 2009, Lisa P. Jackson, US EPA Administrator-designate, sent a memo to US EPA employees introducing herself and outlining the President's agenda for the environment. According to the memo, President Obama has articulated three values that he expects EPA to uphold. These include 1) science must be the backbone for EPA programs, 2) EPA must follow the rule of law and 3) EPA’s actions must be transparent. Both the regulated community and environmental groups alike should be satisfied with these values. As Ms. Jackson states in the memo, "When scientific judgments are suppressed, misrepresented or distorted by political agendas, Americans can lose faith in their government to provide strong public health and environmental protection."

According to the memo, the administration's priorities for the environment include: 1) reducing greenhouse gas emissions, 2) improving air quality, 3) managing chemical risks, 4) cleaning up hazardous-waste sites and 5) protecting America’s water.

Cox-Colvin is very involved in the cleanup of hazardous waste sites, with many of these sites on the EPA's 2020 universe of sites to be cleaned up by the year 2020. The driving force for the cleanup of the hazardous waste sites falls under two general categories, real estate development driven cleanups and agency driven cleanups. Real estate development driven cleanups are entered into more or less voluntarily by developers that are looking to profit from the redevelopment and re-use of the property. Over the past ten years, real estate market forces have resulted in the cleanup and the productive re-use of many former hazardous waste sites. However, in today's economy, few developers are willing to take on the risks associated with former hazardous waste sites. We should, therefore, expect to see an increase in agency driven cleanups, through orders and permits, as EPA struggles to meet its priorities addressed by the new Director and identified in the RCRA Corrective Action 2020 Initiative. For assistance in cleanup of hazardous waste sites, look to the leader in agency driven RCRA Corrective Action: Cox-Colvin & Associates, Inc.

You can view the full memo at http://www.epa.gov/administrator/memotoemployees.html .

Clean Ohio Fund on Ballot in November-YES on Issue 2

Following nearly eight years of resounding success, the Clean Ohio Fund will be on the November ballot for re-approval by Ohio voters. Voting YES for Issue 2 ensures continued funding for greenspace preservation and brownfield redevelopment. The Clean Ohio brownfield program has awarded nearly $200 million in grants to Ohio communities, leveraging over $2 billion in public and private investment with over 14,000 jobs created.

Cox-Colvin & Associates, Inc. is the only environmental firm in Ohio with former Urban Development personnel on staff, ready to help turn your brownfield property into a successful redevelopment opportunity for your community. To learn more about Cox-Colvin's Clean Ohio program support and Brownfield services, please contact Jake Elder at (614) 526-2040 or by email. For more information regarding the Clean Ohio Fund, please visit www.cleanohio.org.

Data Inspector updated to READ scanned files

A recent update to our Data Inspector software actually READS scanned documents in your project's database. Now you can find any project file, then retrieve a PDF of that file through the internet with a simple query. This is a very powerful addition. For instance, if your project files include a letter from 1956 discussing the installation of an underground tank, you can actually retrieve a PDF of that letter by typing in "underground tank", or "1956", or any other text that may apply.

Maybe you want to find all the documents that mention "arsenic trioxide", or the name of a specific individual, all you need to do is enter the words in the Search Text field. It is unbelievably fast...searching through thousand of scanned documents in seconds.

It can also be a great way to search for specific citations in regulations that apply to your project. Just have the regs scanned into your project's filing system and you're ready to go.