As Indiana prepares to observe Earth Day next week, there are still many environmental issues challenging the state.
Although well known for farming, Jesse Kharbanda, executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) said Hoosiers must be aware of dangerous chemicals and pesticides that can harm the soil, the water supply and residents.
Most of Indiana’s waterways are said to be polluted with sediment runoff, excess nutrients such as phosphorus, and even bacteria such as E. coli.
Also, Indiana is losing about 100,000 acres of forests, farms and other undeveloped spaces per year due to inadvertent land use and economic development practices.
Another issue is poor air quality.
“If your ability to breathe is impaired, life can be difficult. Clean air is fundamental to life,” said Kharbanda.
He sites increased amounts of cars and trucks on the roads giving off harmful emissions as a major cause of air pollution. High gas prices have made Indiana residents rethink driving habits, however, they continue to rely heavily on vehicles for travel.
The HEC said Indiana has the sixth highest road density in the U.S. and believes state government has developed a habit of solving transportation issues with more and bigger roads.
Kharbanda sees the Central Indiana Mass transit plan as a way to reduce much of Central Indiana’s air pollution. However, the Indiana Legislature isn’t quite convinced. At Recorder press time, the Indiana Senate passed legislation that would create a committee to study transit expansion in Central Indiana over the summer. Legislators would then revisit the mass transit plan in 2014.
Kharbanda also points to Indiana industrial and coal plants as a major cause of air pollution.
When people think of rural Indiana, they tend to think of rolling hillsides and sprawling cornfields – a place abundant in fresh air. The HEC said that isn’t an accurate picture. They say Indiana has some of the dirtiest air in all of America. And people have their fossil fuel dependency to thank for it.
According to HEC, coal provides 95 percent of our electricity – the rest of the nation uses coal for only 50 percent of its electricity needs. They also said Indiana ranks seventh nationally – and first in the Midwest – for environmentally harmful emissions per capita. Indianapolis has the second highest carbon footprint among all major metro areas. Carbon footprint is the total amount of harmful emission caused by an organization, event, product or person.
In order to reduce coal plant air pollutions, Kahrbanda suggests coal plants and industrial businesses install better equipment. There are financial programs available for businesses through the energy division of the lieutenant governor’s office that helps them with the costs of new, more green equipment.
Scott Deloney, air programs branch chief for the Indiana Department of Environment Management is aware of Indiana’s air quality issues, but said Indiana complies with federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.
“The challenge, though, is that (standards continue to change). Just because we hit the bar last year doesn’t mean we don’t have new challenges before us,” said Deloney.
HEC said millions of Hoosiers live in places where ozone or fine particle pollution either exceeds or is very close to the federal health standard. The problem is especially prevalent in Northwest and Southwest Indiana.
Despite the constant federal standard changes, Deloney would describe Indiana’s air quality as “better than ever” also saying that Indiana’s air quality has improved greatly over the past years. His office measures this by way of special monitoring systems spread around the state that tracks specific pollutants and air toxins.
Kharbanda agrees with Indiana’s improved air quality but said there are still pockets of the community that don’t have equal air quality to that of other communities.
Both Gov. Mike Pence and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard are championing job growth in Central Indiana and around the state. With new businesses comes employees and with that, more vehicles. Deloney agrees that increased motor vehicle usage is a main cause of Indiana’s air quality issues and said his office is working closely with metropolitan planning organizations, political jurisdictions, federal highway and transit administrations and others to ensure the development of transportation projects and programs are consistent with federal and state air quality plans.
When it comes to coal plants, those businesses are regulated by Deloney’s office. He said government issued permits for businesses determine how much harmful pollutants can be emitted. They regularly follow up with businesses to ensure they are in compliance with the Indiana Department of Environment Management.
“Our highway funds can be frozen if we’re in violation of our state implementation plan. We have to ensure everyone is in compliance,” said Deloney.
The City of Indianapolis is doing its part to comply and keep residents safe. Scott Manning, public information officer for the Office of Sustainability, said one of the ways they do that is through finding ways to make city-county government more cost efficient and environmentally conscious.
“We define a sustainable community as one that has a strong economy, a healthy environment and an exceptional quality of life,” said Manning. “But like many urban cities, our air quality is good, but at times we do have high ozone levels.”
One of the office’s major programs which encompasses each of their goals is the Knowzone air quality program which alerts citizens about the air quality through Knozone Action Days.
The office also works with schools, organizations and businesses to help them understand the impact of poor air quality. They also are involved in the Central Indiana Clean Air Partnership – a group of businesses that promote best practices in energy efficiency and overall air quality improvement.
Other Office of Sustainability programs include bike lanes, trails and greenways, the city’s recycling program (curbside and drop off), the urban gardening program and green building incentive programs.
Deloney said other ways Hoosiers can be more conscious of Indiana air quality is by looking at reducing energy consumption everywhere they can such as using energy efficient light bulbs and appliances at home; carpooling in fuel efficient vehicles to work and school; or businesses using energy efficient equipment.
For more information, contact the Hoosier Environmental Council at (317) 685-8800 or hecweb.org; Indiana Department of Environmental Management at In.gov/idem or (317) 308-3236; or Sustain Indy at Indy.gov/sustainindy.
