20210616-003a: State of Our Environment Report 2020 Memorandum — original pdf

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M E M O R A N D U M Mayor and Council Christopher Herrington, P.E., Environmental Officer Watershed Protection Department (WPD) June 2, 2021 TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: The purpose of this memo is to provide a link to the 2020 State of Our Environment Report. As required by Austin City Code 25-1-45(C), the Environmental Officer is required to deliver a report on Austin’s environment to the City Manager and City Council annually. Although the format of the State of Our Environment Report has evolved over time, the report now exists as an interactive ArcGIS Story Map with information about the current condition of Austin’s environmental resources. State of Our Environment Report 2020 www.austintexas.gov/environment2020 The State of Our Environment site includes quantitative metrics describing the condition of key components of Austin natural resources over time and a feature story focusing on an important environmental topic or issue impacting residents each year. For this year’s report, we collaborated with community leaders from People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources and Go Austin/Vamos Austin to share the history of the work done by the East Austin community to shutdown the 52-acre petroleum tank farm near Airport Boulevard and Springdale Road. After partial remediation, it is now being redeveloped as the Springdale Green Planned Unit Development, providing a unique milestone in the journey of this massively polluted industrial site. The retelling of this story could not be done without the voices of the individuals who worked tirelessly to relocate the facility, address community health issues, clean up contamination, and strengthen pollution controls. Viewers can learn about this history by watching the video “TANK FARM: Organizing for Justice” and following along with the interactive StoryMap. The report and video are available in both English and Spanish. We express our sincere appreciation to the community who shared their story with us. Additionally, I would like to recognize the exceptional work done by Kaela Champlin with WPD and Christian Bruncsak of ATXN in producing this incredible visual narrative of the legacy of pollution endured by residents in the heart of our city. If you would like additional information or have feedback on the 2020 report, please contact me at 512-974-2840 or chris.herrington@austintexas.gov, or Kaela Champlin at 512-974-3443 or kaela.champlin@austintexas.gov. cc: Spencer Cronk, City Manager Rey Arellano, Assistant City Manager Jorge Morales, P.E., Director, WPD Kaela Champlin, Environmental Program Coordinator, WPD 2