Atmospheric Issues
John Doe
SCI/275
November 2nd, 2014
Andrea Elstro

Atmospheric Issues
As you all know, recently one of the largest employers in Sparksville decided to outsource all of their manufacturing needs to South Korea and closed down all of their US facilities, including Sparksville. This has left Sparksville in a desperate situation and out city government has been working tirelessly to attract new companies to our area. We are pleased to announce that Sparksville is now considering three different companies that want to open up production facilities in our town. The first is a warehouse distribution center, the second is a car manufacturing plant, and the third is an oil refinery.
Direct 2 U Furniture’s distribution center is basically just a big building with lots of garages and a parking lot. There is minimal environmental impact within the building itself, but there will be numerous trucks that will go to and from the warehouse on a regular basis transporting goods to various places. Even with the continuous operation of the trucks to and from the warehouse, there should be no measurable impact on the water supply in Sparksville. However, the trucks being used at Direct 2 U Furniture in the day to day operations could pose a substantial threat to the air quality around Sparksville. The trucks that will be used at the warehouse are going to be large delivery trucks and even larger 18 wheelers or more diesel trucks that are known for being heavy polluters in comparison to a typical combustion engine commuter car. There could be as many as a hundred plus new diesel trucks on Sparksville roads every week and with so many new trucks on the roadways it is possible that the air pollution could become severe enough to pose a health risk to Sparksville citizens unless additional steps are taken to cut down on pollution.
Epic Generation Automotive is proposing to build a hybrid car manufacturing plant. Epic Generations car plan will create 1000 jobs, from skilled labor through the executive ranks. The hybrid car presents a huge growth opportunity for Sparksville. It could lead to a long, heanhy economic future. The hybrid car company claims to be very mindful of the environmental impact of their products and the means of producing them. They utilize state-of-the-art technology, and claim to take every conceivable step to reduce their carbon footprint. Recycling of water and waste is also utilized at the factory. They will be reclaiming more than 50% of water used in manufacturing through an onsite treatment and reclamation facility, which should also take care of any and all concerns about pollution as well.
Reliance Oil is proposing to build a huge state-of-the-art oil refinery that will create more than 2,000 jobs from a wide range of job skills. Reliance Oil has had substantial economic effects on other communities similar to Sparksville and the positive impacts should be substantial and on-going. As far as pollution is concerned, the oil industry is one of the most highly regulated industries in the world, and in addition Reliance Oil has become a standard for environmental responsibility. Reliance Oil monitors all company vehicle emissions at twice the frequency required by the EPA. In addition Reliance Oil has a company-wide incentive program to promote car-pooling. Reliance Oil also practices responsible corporate citizenship which means community engagement. They do this through education and outreach programs that make "conservation'' and "sustainability" topics of conversation each and every day. Reliance Oil will also have a full ·time education coordinator leading those efforts in Sparksville.

Reference
Brunekreef, B. (2002). Air pollution and health. The Lancet, 360(9341), 1233 - 1242.
Chiras, D. D. (2012). Environmental Science (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Jones & Bartlett.