MAPS
Overview
Our effort to map Environmental threats throughout Utah began when we wanted to create an interactive tool with accessible information related to pollution and hazardous waste. We realized that mapping would be the most effective way to visualize data. The creation of these maps is to help our staff, our supporters, and decision makers get a better idea of the breadth that these threats pose to people, communities, and our natural environment.
Dive into the maps below and please reach out with any questions to our Grassroots Organizer Kenna Patiño Kenna@healutah.org
Uranium Industry in San Juan County, Utah
The uranium industry in Utah is longstanding and has a painful history throughout the state, as its negative impacts remain long after parts of the industry close. Uranium issues remain significant today and the active, and inactive, industry continues to threaten the health of surrounding communities and the natural world.
To get a picture of the uranium’s ongoing impact in the state, we compiled data into an interactive map that allows the user to visualize hazardous sites, uranium mines, uranium mills, and population centers in San Juan County, Utah.
While we are careful to not yet draw specific conclusions from the map in its current state, we see this map as an important way to visualize the widespread impact that the uranium industry has in Utah. We believe it is important to also note the amount of overlap and close proximity the uranium and hazardous sites have with the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation and Navajo Nation, both of which have communities that have repeatedly suffered from the serious impacts caused by this industry.
Explore this map here
Producing Oil & Gas Wells in and around the Uinta Basin
Since the discovery of oil within the Uinta Basin, the extraction of resources has become embedded within Utah’s growing economy. As extraction has expanded, the industry’s detrimental effects on the natural land, ecosystems and local populations have become increasingly evident.
To better understand the oil and natural gas industrys ongoing impact in the state, we compiled data into an interactive map that allows the you to visualize locations of producing wells, what is being extracted at each well, land type/ownership of well site, and finally, the proximity of wells to municipalities.
This map as way to visualize how invasive the oil and gas industry is in the Uinta Basin. Within the Uintah Basin, research has linked health impacts such as “respiratory issues, heart disease, and kidney disease” to air pollution, as a result of the industry’s “NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) and VOC (Volatile organic compound) emissions”
Explore this map here
About Riley Nevins, HEAL Utah GIS Intern
Riley is a University of Utah graduate, where he received his Bachelor’s in Geography with an emphasis on Global Climates and Earth Landscapes. He also focused on, and has completed his certification in, applied Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It’s with this focus that he has created HEAL Utahs interactive maps.
When Riley isn’t working, he is hiking and recreating in the outdoors, especially in the Wasatch and throughout southern Utah.
Growing up in Utah studying, and recreating, he values the communities and landscape that collectively create the space he calls home. He hopes to work towards creating a healthier and more environmentally friendly future for Utah.