New EPA app keeps it local

PEOPLE can often be better informed about global environmental issues than what is happening on their doorsteps.

But, you can now get information about the environment close to where you live and work.

Acting locally while thinking globally is being made a little easier by a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mapping application called My Local Environment, or Timpeall an Ti.

It is possible, for instance, to check local air or water quality. The service could be used in schools by students working on environment-related projects and also by tourists wishing to get information about the local environment in which they are staying.

The service provides a list of local air monitoring sites; a user can click on each site to view the current air quality and any related information on the Air Quality Index for Health. There’s also a list of local sites, including bathing water, rivers, coastal and groundwater, with the quality of each detailed.

Users can access data on all EPA-licensed sites, such as landfill facilities and dump site boundaries, as well as licensing applications received by the EPA since 2004 and annual environmental reports from 2008 onwards.

And there are things that don’t readily spring to mind. If you’re living in a traditional mining area you can, for example, get an overview report that was done for each mine location.

In essence, the mapping application is all about making it easier to find useful information about what’s happening in a given area. Often in the past, this data was almost impossible to access and was generally contained in reports and studies done by experts, sometimes of a highly technical nature.

At times, the reports gathered dust on shelves and were forgotten about but, now, most of this material is at people’s fingertips and can be obtained quite simply online on the EPA and other websites.

Laura Burke, EPA director general, says My Local Environment is the latest in a number of tools to make environmental data more accessible, and, more importantly, to frame it in a local setting.

“We always welcome feedback from users of our website on how we can improve the services we offer and would welcome people’s comments about My Local Environment.’’

nMy Local Environment (Timpeall an Ti) can be accessed from the front page of the EPA website or via gis.epa.ie/myenvironment#/search