Earth Explorers

In the 1960’s, Chattanooga had an industrial base with high-volume emissions from coal furnaces, railroads, and manufacturing. These industries caused high concentrations of particulate matter and chemicals in the air and local rivers and streams of the metro area.

A city street in 1948 filled with thick smog Air Pollution:
After these reports, citizens, industry leaders and government joined together to approve an Air Pollution Control Ordinance in 1969. This local ordinance set restrictions on almost all pollution-causing activities within Chattanooga and Hamilton County. It placed limits on all visible emissions from local industries. Although debated for years, pollution control become a priority and within 3 years, every major pollution source was in compliance.
Read House hotel buring coal

In 1989, the metro area’s air quality met all federal health standards. Chattanooga’s air was cleaner than it had ever been.

Water Pollution:
The cleanup of air pollution in Chattanooga had a direct impact on the rivers and streams in the area. But industries also had to clean their waste water discharges to attain federal compliance. Although large strides have been achieved, waste water discharges leave residuals in the sediments of streambanks, remaining there for many years. As of a 2006 report, the Tennessee Department of Environment Conservation reported impaired water quality in 22 streams in Hamilton County alone.

Actions Taken

Carta bus using alternative energy The community of Chattanooga has come together over the past 25 years to implement a variety of measures designed to clean the environment and promote “green” industry. In the 1980’s, two public-planning processes brought thousands of people together to give voice to problems and solutions. One of the most visible results of these processes has been the 22-mile riverfront corridor which was developed to revitalize the riverfront district. Additional planning and actions were achieved through Vision 2000 which created 40 consensus goals for the community.
Riverfront park

Air:
Additional federal regulations brought new monitoring of both air and water to the entire country. The Air Pollution Control Bureau (APCB) actively monitors air-quality levels to determine compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter and ozone. Daily reports on air quality can be found on the APCB website: www.apcb.org.

Water:
Additional federal regulations also brought increased water monitoring to local rivers and streams. Each state is required to monitor streams and to check for a broad range of contaminants. If a water body is not fit for its intended use, such as swimming or fishing, it receives a classification of “impaired”.

Lula Falls One of the more widely known streams, Chattanooga Creek, was designated a Superfund Site due to its severe contamination from years of industrial waste build-up in the sediments of its streambanks. Work on this stream alone has taken many years and many thousands of dollars.

Currently, over 185 stream miles in Hamilton County are impaired, most at the catagory 5 level of pollution, considered the worst of the 5 levels used to designate water qualtiy. The State must determine allowable amounts of discharge that can enter each waterbody while retaining its use classification. Cleaning of all rivers and streams requires monitoring and enforcement of current discharge levels in addition to research into how each water body can be improved for future use.

The Future
As we learn more about how our environment works, we will encounter more challenges regarding cleaning up the environment from our past mistakes. As a community, we need to support monitoring and enforcement of discharge permits for our air and water by the State of Tennessee.