Memphis, Tennessee
Environmental Health
Hazardous Waste
Superfund Site: Is the federal government's program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. If any land in the United States has been contaminated by hazardous waste and is identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) it could possible to a candidate for clean up because it can pose a risk to the human health or even the environment area.
Shelby County located in Memphis, Tennessee
Uses a Superfund Site: Usage because of there soil and groundwater are contaminated by metals, petroleum products, diesel fuel, and occasional solvents and pesticides. Contamination is not at a level to threaten worker health and groundwater contamination appears localized to the site. Land use controls currently prevent undesirable human exposure to all remaining contamination, which include the exposure to contaminated ground water. Health Consultations have not identified any site-related children’s health issues.
Brownfield Site: It seeks productive uses for the environmentally impaired properties and those places are usually abandoned or underutilized facilities.
Air Quality
The Clean Air Act
The purpose of the Clean Air Act is to achieved dramatic reductions in air pollution, along with preventing hundreds of thousands of cases of serious health effects each year.
It helps the federal law who regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources.
The Clean air act requires EPA to set health based standards for ambient air quality.
It sets deadlines for the achievement of those standards that are set by state and local governments.
It requires EPA to set national emission standards for large sources of air pollution, that include motor vehicles, power plants, and ect.
In Memphis, Tennessee they have 100% particulate matter that is just floating around there city which isn't good. Most of them you cant see. Particulate matter is a matter of fact the most common air pollutant tat affects peoples help .
Affects your health
When you inhale, the particulate matter your are breathing in the air alone with particles that are floating in the air.
Once it hits your body it will travel to your respiratory system and get into your lungs.
If the particles are small and they get far enough in your lungs there are cells that are in your lungs and the cells will trap the particles in there. If that happens they cant get out and you can get lung disease, emphysema or even lung cancer.
Solutions to helping the 100% of particulate matter go down is to fix:
Make more car pulling lanes and stricter codes on the car pulling lanes and stiffer fines on business.
Water Quality
Memphis, Tennessee water quality of there river and lakes are pretty bad.
Memphis, Tennessee river and lake get there water from the Mississippi ground water within the State of Mississippi.
In west Tennesse and north Mississippi the natural flow of water in the aquifer is to the west and southwest. But theres a heavy pumping of municipal wells in Memphis, has diverted that flow creating contes of depressions that pulls the water from the south.
There are three well fields sercving MLG&W and 10 water pumping stations that are extended to within 2 miles of the Mississippi line.
Health Status
Cancer Rates
Female:114.1-118.1
Male:106.3-114,0
Birth Outcomes
A lot of the birth defects made the infants die
10% of birth defects in Memphis
Mortality Rates
The infant mortality rate in Tennessee was 8.10 per 1000 in 2012—
well over the 2010 national average of 6.1 per 1000. In 2007, 51% of babies born
The Problem
With drinking water being some of the best water in the world, water shortage and pollution isn't our biggest issue. However its our water supply is still in danger.
Memphis, Tennessee gets its clean drinking water from an underground aquifer where water has been naturally filtered there for years now. Where Memphis is getting there water there resource is being consumed at a huge rate, probably faster tan it can be replaced, in which can end in a disaster like not having clean water supply.
What is even more threatening to Memphis along with the non clean water supply is the contamination of the aquifers.
Did you know that trash on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee such as bottles, cigarettes and car oil goes down the storm drains and is dumped unfiltered into the Mississippi river. Think about the next time you want to throw something out the window or while your walking. Luckily the pollution doesn't stay in the water supply but a it does move downstream to contaminate the water supplies for Mississippi and other surrounding area. There are over a million people who drink the Mississippi River water, water that is being polluted daily.
What can you do to keep items like trash out of the storm drains, organic produce to help reduce pesticides out of your water?
Step One: Make a river clean up day. By that I mean, every community holds an annual river cleanup. You will be helping improving and protecting the Mississippi for the residents who live there.
Step Two: You can avoid using those costly and dangerous chemical fertilizers and pesticides that you use in your yard. When you use them and then it rains the rain carries it off to the storm drain and into the Mississippi River.
Step Three: Is your city putting off trying to improve your sewer system? Stand up and speak out and demand that polluters and others who threat the river help trying to improve.
Basically what you want to do is just take care of your community. It's the people who live in Memphis that are making the water systems bad. Yes, its the pollutions but us people are the ones who pollute. Memphis, Tennessee people need to do a better job at taking care and there community.
Benefits that can come out of helping out your community is fresh clean water and not all that chemical stuff when your drinking your water.
Citiations
US Environmental Protection Agency." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013. http://www.epa.gov/.
CITY NOT FOUND." AIRNow. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2013. <http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&cityid=179>.