DHEC Environmental eNews

April 2022 | {View as Webpage}

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This monthly electronic newsletter from DHEC's Environmental Affairs will keep our customers and stakeholders informed of important events, legislation, meetings, permitting information, and compliance information.

Earth Day

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Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. This year’s Earth Day theme is “invest in our planet”. We are on this planet together and together we can invest our time, energy, and effort to protect and preserve this planet we call Earth for ourselves and future generations.


To learn more about what you can do to celebrate Earth Day, visit our Make Every Day Earth Day webpage.

Let's Get Monitoring


Spring is a great time to be outdoors where you can help monitor the health of our streams and tidal creeks. Attend a free workshop to become certified to test the water for pH, dissolved oxygen, bacteria, transparency, salinity, or macroinvertebrates. Anyone can view the data you enter in the SC Adopt-a-Stream database. There are free workshops available in the upstate and Myrtle Beach in May, and near Aiken in June. Check out the website for dates and locations and be sure to check back regularly as more training events will be added. 

 

For more information about the SC Adopt-a-Stream program contact Sierra Hylton at hyltonsf@dhec.sc.gov

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Ozone Forecasting Season Began March 31


Bureau of Air Quality meteorologists provide next-day ground level ozone forecasts from March 31st through September 29th. The daily ozone forecast allows the public to make informed choices about protecting their health and decreasing their own contributions to emissions when ozone concentrations are expected to be high. Please visit DHEC’s ozone forecast website or sign up to EnviroFlash to get the daily forecast. Current air quality conditions can be obtained from U.S. EPA’s AIRNow website. For more information on ground level ozone and related health effects, visit DHEC’s About Ozone website.

Gary Stewart Named SARR Division Director

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Gary Stewart was recently named the Director of the Division of Site Assessment, Remediation, and Revitalization in the Bureau of Land and Waste Management. As Director, he will oversee the Brownfields and Drycleaning Section, State Voluntary Cleanup Section, Federal and State Site Assessment Section, Federal Remediation Section, State Remediation Section, and Financial and Records Management Section.

 

Gary has worked for DHEC since March 1990. He began his career in the Site Engineering Section (now the State Remediation Section) as a staff engineer/project manager overseeing the investigation and remediation of abandoned and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. He became manager of the State Remediation Section in 1994. As manager, he has been involved with many complex soil and groundwater cleanups, removal actions, and cost recovery settlements.

 

Prior to coming to DHEC, Gary worked at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia in the Combat Systems Office.

 

Gary is a 1987 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a B.S. in Engineering and is a registered P.E. in South Carolina.

Air Quality Awareness Week


Air Quality Awareness Week (AQAW) 2022 has been designated as May 2 – May 6. AQAW corresponds with ozone season, wildfire season, and World Asthma Day. The theme for AQAW 2022 is “Be Air Aware & Prepared”.

The daily topics include:



Celebrate this week by doing your share to spare the air!

Join Our Team!
As the state agency charged with promoting and protecting South Carolina's public health and environment, DHEC has a legacy of attracting and retaining talented individuals who want to build rewarding and successful careers. DHEC's Environmental Affairs employs a wide range of environmental professionals from engineers and geologists to inspectors and meteorologists.



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