Abstract - Regulated Facilities that Pose a Threat to Sensitive Habitat

Track: Environmental Management

Audrey Hyde
State of Indiana
100 N Senate Avenue
PO Box 7035
Indianapolis, IN 46207-7035

Telephone: 317-233-5734
Fax: 317-232-3403
E-mail: ahyde@opn.dem.state.in.us

Regulated Facilities that Pose a Threat to Sensitive Habitat

Defining Issue: The environment of northwest Indiana has many complicated issues. For example, it is typical to find side-by-side a contaminated site and a critical habitat containing endangered species. In this highly concentrated industrial area, IDEM was looking for ways to focus efforts on facilities that have the greatest potential for causing harm to a sensitive habitat.GIS Solution: ArcView was used to analyze facility databases against sensitive habitat coverages to determine which facilities pose the greatest potential threat to this critical habitat.Methodology: A coverage of the regulated facilities was created by address matching and using global position systems. Coverages representing sensitive habitats were identified and either collected or created. Using ArcView, the sensitive habitats were given a quarter of a mile buffer. Regulated facilities that fell within three or more of these buffer zones were identified for further analysis. The facility data that was analyzed in ArcView includes spills, hazardous waste manifest, biennial reports, groundwater monitoring, Community Right to Know. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). This facility data is collected and maintained in many different program areas based on the regulation that mandated the data collection. For example, data from the Clean Water Act is managed separate from CERCLA data. ArcView was used to bring together this multitude of data to determine which facilities pose the greatest overall threat to the environment. To determine the actual environmental impact, the results of this analysis were compared to biological databases containing fish tissue and sediment analysis. It was then possible to determine if the chemical constituents from violations and spills could be detected in biological data.Software: Coverages were created using ArcInfo, databases were managed with Paradox, and ArcView was used for analysis and mapping purposes.