Skyye Smith
SCI 275
5/2/2013
The largest issues my community and the state of Hawaii faces are the issues related to the water quality. This issue is one of the most prevalent and one that has the ability to be reduced or even completely demolished if a consistent effort is made over time. Our state also has air quality problems which are certainly more difficult problems to find a solution for since most of the air quality issues are derived from the volcanic ash from neighboring islands. Pollutants in the water present unique challenges to the environmental sustainability issue. Out of the 25 sources of water in the area only six are considered in “good” condition while others are listed as “impaired.” Many of the local waters are listed impaired because of non-native fish/shellfish/zooplankton and channelization. Many of the reports also did not have impairments listed. The Keehi Lagoon was clearly the area with the most serious impairments. The lagoon contains metals (industrial permitted), nutrients, oil, grease, sediments, turbidity and pathogens. I was very surprised to learn that while Pearl Harbor is listed as “impaired” there are no reports addressing the issue whatsoever. It is common knowledge that the Battleship Arizona leaks oil and that the hull is deteriorating. The deterioration of the hall will eventually cause the estimated 500,000 gallons of oil to escape into the harbor. The water issue in the State of Hawaii is an environmental sustainability issue because it is affecting the life of those animals who call these waters their home. When you view the EPA’s report of Hawaii it is easy to see that we are a very green state that cares about the environment, but one thing I did notice is the amount of industries that have special permits that allow them to dump waste into the waters. According to the most current EPA reports, companies that have been issued permits to discharge waste water into rivers has recently increased by 12 new companies with new permits and one that had a permit expiring. Intuitively dumping waste into rivers is not an environmentally sound decision, but rather a decision made as a result of the resource shortages such as space. “The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) issues permits to all wastewater dischargers and treatment facilities. These permits establish specific discharge limits, monitoring and reporting requirements and may also require these facilities to undertake special measures to protect the environment from harmful pollutants.” (cite) The NPDES has been in effect since 1972. The Department of Health (DOH) in Hawaii has a multitude of different plans intended to reduce and maintain the amount of waste and pollution that occurs on the island. The Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch has a Pollution Prevention Program that helps show businesses how reducing their waste not only will improve their employees’ health and enhance productivity, but also material and waste costs can be minimized and they will reduce their regulatory compliance liability. They also try to show businesses that when you reduce waste you become more efficient and help with conservation of resources while at the same time getting publically recognized for being an environmentally sound business. I was unable to find any new solutions to solve the wastewater problem here in Hawaii. I do feel that not only does the wastewater need to be addressed but also the old and deteriorating pipes that are found in Hawaii. Recently in the news there have been many reports about water main breaks and leaks in sewer lines. In February, a sewer leak caused the health department to issue a special warning to swimmers, fisherman and canoe paddlers to stay out of the Keehi Lagoon. The leak was caused by a cracked pipe under Nimitz, Hawaii.
Probable Source:
-INDUSTRIAL PERMITTED
Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper answering these questions:
What is the issue?
Why is this an environmental sustainability issue?
Whom does it affect?
What are the causes of the issue?
What are the environmental regulations related to this issue?
How has this environmental issue been regulated or not regulated in the past?
What solutions are proposed?
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
I live in the beautiful small town of Eagle Point, Oregon. Our small community has a beautiful creek which runs right through our town; and although many people would say that our biggest environmental issue would be that our creek has an e-coli warning, I believe our communities biggest issue to be recycling.…
- 280 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Some argue that we face the most significant financial challenges since the Great Depression and that it would financially impossible or imprudent to fund and pursue sustainable practices in Hawaii. Yet, in we are facing environmental issues such as rising temperatures and advancing oceans, emissions and extinction, habitat destruction and urban sprawl, encroaching pollution and expanding populations. Human development has provided me with a place to live, roads and highways to drive on, shopping malls and movie theaters for entertainment, hospitals for me to get vaccinated at and receive medical attention, supermarkets to buy food at, and schools to receive an education at. Yet I can also personally attest to the wonder of walking on a dew-laced…
- 858 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
1. This article by Plaven highlights the issues that the Native Americans in Oregon are facing. They are trying to change the rules and laws that would benefit the earth. They’re worried that climate change is going to make food scarce as well as other environmental problems. Plaven refers to the fish in the rivers, and how the population of certain fish has decreased. The fish are described as being scarce are being minimized by lower water levels in the river, and hot temperatures (Plaven 1). The tribes contribute these environmental issues to the shortage of salmon and Steelheads (Plaven 1). The hot temperatures are also being blamed for fires in the region. The fires burn tribal crops, and threatens the tribal lands. The lands where the…
- 1258 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
A lot of humans and businesses depend on the Coral Reef as a food supply, protection and for jobs, especially on the islands of Hawaii were most of time people spend their time in or under the water. Hawaii is known as Paradise Island because of its healthy and beautiful Coral Reef and understanding how to keep it healthy is extremely important to me because Coral Reefs are lowly depleting and I want to know why and what there is I can help do to save them, cause they are a great defense, buffering the waves, storms and potential floods which in turn help property damage and erosion. Coral Reefs help support commercials and businesses that support tourism and popular fishing and surfing that takes place around the islands coast. The 21st century has relied on the Coral Reef heavily calling it the “Medicine Cabinet” with the Coral Reef plants and some of the animals that live in it new sources of medicine to help treat major diseases like Cancer, heart disease, arthritis and viruses. The protection of the coral reef means a lot to me and although I haven’t been on the island long I am putting myself in those who have and look back on tragic events that have damaged the coral reef like the February 5th 2009 USS Port Royal ship grounding that destroyed millions of dollars of coral reef and not only did the ship do that but they also dumped their waste that was stored on the ship in the nearby waters which also polluted the water and killed hundreds of fish and possibly the remaining coral reef in that area, now for someone to destroy that much of the history gets me…
- 617 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
What are the environmental health issues often associated with low income and minority communities and why are they more prevalent in these groups?…
- 334 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The issue I chose to write about is health and the significant impact that it has on millions across the world in our society. In relation to the environment, there are certain types of health risks that can play a major part such as: cancer, mortality, certain disabilities, and how all of these things are managed on a consistent basis. These environmental issues affect everyone, not just one particular person or type of group amongst us all. For this reason alone, it is imperative to bring light to each individual situation and develop some sort of change to create a basic balance throughout the world. There are many causes that make these issues prevalent such as toxins that pollute…
- 800 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
On March 24, 1989, an Exxon supertanker spilled 11 million gallons of oil while traveling through the pristine waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The consequences of this spill were detrimental and continue to affect life today. The oil spill killed thousands of wildlife, extensively damaged a portion of the beautiful Alaskan environment, and eventually affected the economy to global proportions. Unfortunately, this tragedy could have been prevented. Lack of adequate safety efforts, enforcement, and regulations all played a major role in this truly catastrophic event.…
- 1735 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
For (M2) - explain the short- and long-term effects of the major incidents on people, communities, environment and the wider impacts they may have had.…
- 1356 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Over the years people have lost more and more care for the Earth and it is suffering the consequences of this neglect. A bad stewardship of the planet makes it respond with problems such as Air Pollution, Global warming, Water Pollution, overpopulation, etc. We think that as stewards of the planet we have the rights to do what we want with it, but this is damaging it, and us as well. We are the only ones here with the power and capability to change this, and there are certain estrategies that we can implement in order to make a positive impact on our Earth's water, land, and air.…
- 581 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Water Bears. Found in lichens (in places such as Singapore, hong kong). Can profoundly change in response to environmental conditions. Induce hibernation. Regenerate through rehydration. Bioindicator in urban environments. Point: even small thing are interesting, nature has a story.…
- 797 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The largest environmental issue that is effecting the global climate change specially in Canadian society would be global warming. Although global warming and its effects are taking place all around the world, a huge part of the ramifications that we are seeing are taking part in Canada. Global warming has lead to many environmental problems including the melting of the north pole and northern areas as well as forest fires and animal extinction. All of these sub-topics, although speaking specifically to Canada in this research essay, these environmental problems will not only happen throughout the rest of the world but some will possible even create a domino effect.…
- 1085 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
“Ethics is the study of the choices people make regarding right and wrong” (Ruggiero, 2008). Environmental ethics, it is more of a study about moral relationships of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its nonhuman contents. Humans have been sharing our lives with nature for many of years; we have to make many ethical decisions with respect to the environment everyday. We have been concentrating on finding ways and ideas to make our lives easier. Over time we have forgotten to take in the immoral consideration of what we might be doing to our environment itself. In the past, future and even present, there have been many controversial issues on environmental ethics that need to be answered. There are environmental issues affecting our world today such as deforestation and pollution. These problems have even begun to affect us at a global scale and not only have we put ourselves in grave peril but we have also managed to endanger every other species that exist on earth. As noted by Yamamoto (2001), “In Buddhism, human life, and other forms of life are regarded as being of the same matter. Therefore, since they are always related to living things, Buddhism regards environmental problems as essentially an issue of ethics.”…
- 2549 Words
- 11 Pages
Good Essays -
Trash can be observed congregating on the sides of roadways. This trash includes plastic bottles, papers, and cans. The trash seen along the sides of the road is even more pronounced when it is observed after a long winter’s thaw. Just like the sides of the road become filled with trash, so does the ocean. This trash is observable in a specific portion of the ocean known as the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. The Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch is one of many different types of Environmental Discrimination as it affects sea life, wildlife, and humans, thanks to Environmental Justice new laws are being put in place to increase and promote the use of reusing products and recycling. Environmental Justice is defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2012) as being “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies” (p. 1). The main purpose of Environmental Justice is to seek to solve the issue of Environmental Discrimination. Environmental Discrimination or Environmental Racism refers to a situation in which industrial operations, environmental policymaking, and the enforcement (or lack of enforcement) of environmental laws unfairly impact a particular race of people, either intentionally or unintentionally (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012, p.1). Historically many occurrences of Environmental Justice have been at waste disposal, manufacturing and energy production sites in low income communities. Environmental justice began in the early 1980’s. It originally emerged as a concept in the United States, fueled by a mounting…
- 2107 Words
- 9 Pages
Best Essays -
Instead of containing waste in a manner that won’t interfere with sources of water, businesses repeat history by continuing to dispose waste into sources of water. The New York Times published a first-hand report on the Kalamazoo river oil spill from 2010. One-million gallons of diluted bitumen were released into the river, causing the population of Michigan to experience headaches and nausea for weeks. Although this event is quite recent when compared to the Industrial Revolution, it continues to be an essential aspect of history because it demonstrates how the careless practices from the past have affected the health and condition of the environment in the future. The priority of a business is to generate as much profit as possible. Getting rid of waste by dumping it into bodies of water is simply cheaper and easier when compared to creating a safer, more cautious manner of disposing waste, which could cost millions. For businesses, it’s convenient to utilize bodies of water as disposal grounds, but it’s not to the health of water resources, especially the population. Such effects of polluted water seen during the Industrial Revolution are experienced today, yet this isn’t enough of a reason for most businesses to become eco-conscientious. Even with the advancements in technology and scientific evidence, businesses today repeat the practices…
- 1192 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
I am from Napoleon, Ohio. At the corner of Yeager Road and State Route 108, there is an old abandoned factory near a railroad track that has been partially torn down. This factory covers nearly forty acres of land. During World War II, this plant produced magnesium, and later, the Atomic Energy Commission reopened this factory as a beryllium production facility. Shortly after that, this plant was owned by Goodyear Tire, and they made tires and coated tire rims. To this day, this factory still has four beryllium pits located behind the rubble in the far east corner. It is a site for sore eyes.…
- 426 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays