http://www.theage.com.au/news/20000128/A51297-2000Jan28.html Internet pollution watchdog launched By SIMON JOHANSON THE AGE ONLINE Friday 28 January 2000 Backyard environmentalists will be able to monitor pollution from the factory next door or those across the country with the launch of a nationwide Internet pollution database today. The National Pollution Inventory (NPI), updated regularly on the Internet, will provide detailed information on the types and amounts of chemicals factories discharge into the air, land and water, as well as showing what actions factories may be taking to reduce their emissions. "It will be an invaluable environmental management tool for governments, an unprecedented information resource for the community and an impetus for cleaner production for industry," Federal Environment Minister Senator Robert Hill said at the NPI's launch in Altona today. User can conduct searches by location or a company's name over the Internet and access a breakdown of the chemicals and quantities of pollutants factories discharge. Companies and manufacturers that use more than specified amounts of certain listed substances must report to the NPI. The pollution indicator has already received nearly 1200 industry reports. It will also contain government data on non-industrial pollutants such as motor vehicles, wood-fire smoke, and even lawn mowers. The National Pollution Inventory website is at: www.environment.gov.au/net/npi.html ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink