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Public Facilities Inventory and Evaluation

Water Treatment PlantIt is important to evaluate the effectiveness of these public facilities which contribute to human health and environmental protection. Due to the nature of the facility, ensuring that operations are proceeding efficiently and effectively is very important. Non-compliance with various environmental standards on inefficient use of energy and resources may place your community at risk from an economic and environmental standpoint. Facilities to be inventoried include wastewater treatment facilities, water treatment and distribution systems, energy production facilities, and solid and hazardous waste management facilities. Available information tools that can be of assistance to your community to find this information follow.

Inventorying and Information Gathering

The public facilities information sources listed below are tools that are designed to assist communities gather pertinent information to answer the question "Where Are We Now?" and to develop a Community Profile. Each of these sources contains a description of the resource, what information is available and where to locate that information, case studies, and any available mapping.

Wastewater Treatment Facilities
Water Treatment and Distribution Facilities
Energy Production Facilities
Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Facilities
Military Installations Including VA Hospitals

Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Wastewater treatment facilities include publicly and privately-owned and operated facilities for the treatment, processing and disposal of human-generated waste. A publicly-owned treatment facility contains a series of tanks, screens, filters, and other processes by which pollutants are removed from water. The spent or used water from individual homes, a community, a farm, or an industry that contains dissolved or suspended matter make up the constituents in wastewater. There are many communities with failing on-lot septic system discharges or raw wastewater into groundwater. Identification and correction of these potential areas of contamination will improve the health and welfare of the citizens of the community.

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Water Treatment and Distribution Facilities

Water treatment and distribution facilities include: publicly- and privately-owned and operated water treatment and purification facilities, and private community and individual drinking water wells. An inventory of these facilities as well as the sources of public water supply areas such as watersheds and dam areas will assist the community identify areas that require special protection from development that may be a potential pollution source.

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Energy Production Facilities

These facilities typically require a large acreage of land to develop and operate, depending on the source of fuel. They are also a long-term economic mainstay of the community in terms of local employment and tax source for the community. These facilities have also been linked to environmental pollution and could have an impact on the health and welfare of the residents that live near the facility. An inventory of these facilities and their safety and environmental record will assist your community in evaluating the existing and potential economic and environmental impact these facilities have on the community and region. Energy producing facilities of note include: coal and oil fired power plants, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric, and steam generating facilities (using various fossil/synthetic fuels).

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Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Facilities

The identification and evaluation of existing or planned solid waste or hazardous waste management facilities is a critical component of any community self-assessment. The potential impacts to your community that may result from the development, operation and eventual closure of these facilities could have short- and long-term impacts to the environment and health and welfare of the community and region. Here is a list of facilities to inventory and evaluate: sanitary landfill (municipal waste, construction & demolition, residual waste), waste-to-energy (incineration) facility, refuse-derived fuel facility, municipal waste transfer station, hazardous waste landfill and incinerator, medical waste incinerator, and materials recovery facilities (MRFs) for recyclable materials.

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Military Installations Including VA Hospitals

The presence of military installations along with a basic understanding of the operations performed at the military installations should be identified and examined. Large military installations, such as major Air Force, Army and/or Navy bases, typically require large tracts of land, can house large populations and provide employment opportunities for many military and civilian personnel. Military installations can have a tremendous impact on the local/county/regional economy. Military installations can also impact the surrounding environmental conditions.

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