For this Assignment, you will take the
perspective of a director of a regional Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) office. The national EPA Office of Environmental Information (OEI)
has tasked all regional directors to identify an environmental hazard
in your community by again visiting the EPA’s EJScreen tool at
http://www2.epa.gov/ejscreen and
enter a zip code (e.g., your hometown) in the “Launch the Tool”
section. When the map is loaded, choose “Add Maps.” Highlight
“Additional Maps,” and select “Sites reporting to EPA.” Explore the
various “Sites reporting to EPA” (air emissions, hazardous waste, water
dischargers, superfund, and toxic releases) to find a contaminant that
affects your community. For this contaminant, prepare an executive
summary (2–3 pages) to submit to EPA OEI. In this summary, please
discuss the human health effects of exposure, the sources into the
environment, and the route of human exposure. Specify whether the hazard
is chemical, physical, or biological and whether this affects
occupational health, the general public, or both.