We all want clean neighborhoods, but does anyone know the specific agency that cleans up pollution in our cities and communities? The problem is that it’s not just one agency responsible for responding to all kinds of water and land pollution – it’s a myriad of county, state, and local government entities in any given region that each respond to different kinds of pollution.
The agency in your neighborhood that cleans up sewer overflows may not be the same that cleans up chemical spills or illegal dumping. And if you cross into another city, it may be a completely different set of agencies responsible than those in your hometown.
This complicated framework for reporting pollution can be discouraging for individuals who see pollution and want to do something about it. That’s why Galveston Bay Foundation developed the Galveston Bay Action Network, an online tool and free mobile app that allows users to report any land or water pollution in Harris, Galveston, Chambers, and Brazoria counties quickly and easily.
The Galveston Bay Action Network allows users to report various kinds of pollution such as trash/debris, oil spills, fish kills, wetland destruction and more by simply submitting a single online form that can be supplemented with photos or videos of the pollution event. These reports are then automatically sent to the specific agency that can respond to them based on the location of the report and the kind of pollution observed, taking out the work of tracking down the correct agency for you.
Help keep our communities clean and download the app on Google Play and iTunes, or report pollution on a desktop at www.galvbay.org/gban.
The Galveston Bay Action Network was developed under the guidance of Galveston Bay Foundation, with funding from the Texas General Land Office (TGLO), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Gulf of Mexico Program. In order to ensure these reports were sent automatically to the proper authorities, GBF worked with the technology company Vertices to create the necessary code and software for the Galveston Bay Action Network.
