sign up for environmental alerts
Governor Ruth Ann Minner made a promise in her campaign for governor. The vow was that she would have an environmental release notification system set up so that concerned citizens could be warned of environmental problems such as oil spills or accidental discharges of chemicals from factories. The notices would be sent out within a short time after the events happened.

The notification system was unveiled on Monday. If you would like to receive a message by phone, fax, or email when there are "releases or discharges of contaminants or pollutants," you can visit the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's (DNREC) pages. There, you can sign up for the zip codes for which you are interested.

I think this is a great idea. Citizens often feel like they are out of the loop when it comes to being informed of problems like these.