State of Environment Offers Mixed Report

By Bruce Henderson, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Apr. 23–Landfills were running out of space, ozone pollution was worsening and urban streams were suffering when Mecklenburg County published its first State of the Environment report in 1987.

Twenty years later, the county has a 25-year supply of landfill capacity, the air is cleaner — but still not meeting federal standards — and groundwater contamination is widespread.

The 2008 edition, now out, sticks to the original mission of describing air, water, waste and land-use conditions. The semiannual report is intended to provide a yardstick of environmental trends and recommend ways to improve.

It includes a poll of county residents by UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute. The 2007 poll found that 88 percent of the residents, the highest ever reported, regard protecting the environment as very important. Just more than half, 53 percent, would pay higher taxes to protect it.

The report is online at www.charmeck.org/Departments/LUESA/Home.htm. Hard copies are at all county libraries. Mecklenburg County then and now

1987 2007* Population 473,760 857,379 Vehicle miles traveled/day 11 million 29.9 million Days over the ozone standard 36 19 Municipal waste capacity (years) 3 more than 25 Groundwater violations 60 1,130 Lake water quality index 75.2 (good-excellent) 77.6 (good-excellent) Greenways 0 11

*The 2008 report describes data from the previous year

Read tomorrow’s Charlotte Observer for more details on this developing story.

—–

To see more of The Charlotte Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.charlotte.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.