Interactive Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume Map Demo

Update 6/14/2019 – The map in this post has been updated as of June 14, 2019 to our “Generation 2” style map.  This is the first fully interactive map of the three Gelman Dioxane 1,4 plumes, all of available locations, and their corresponding data.  Check out our new map below 🙂   CLICK HERE to read the new post showcasing RMP’s new generation 2 map.  Keep reading to read our original map post.  Thanks!

End Update from 6/14/2019


This post demonstrates a simple overlay on a Google Map using JavaScript.  The map image is anchored by latitude and longitude points onto a Google Map canvass.  Respectmyplanet.org is a Michigan based 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to water conservation and sustainable energy production.   RMP makes maps using the Google Maps API v3 which is completely free to use for non-profit organizations like ours.   That’s great that it’s free because RMP is unfunded and we could not do what we do without Google’s free API.   The map shown below is just a thin veneer of what is possible with all the data and JavaScript skills RMP could bring to bear on the Internet.    The truth, however, is that great maps take money to make and RMP can’t demonstrate the full potential of our mapping skills because RMP is unfunded.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to RMP in order to help fund our organization, we could make maps like you can’t find anywhere else on the Internet.   Imagine the map (shown below) with clickable points, clickable polylines, and clickable polygons where you could just click and get detailed information on the Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume.  RMP can make that kind of map as we have gigabytes of geospecific data related to the contamination plume in Ann Arbor in the form of an MDEQ Microsoft Access Database file regularly updated by the State of Michigan.

Imagine opacity sliders that let you fade in and fade out map overlays depending on whether you want to see the Google base layer or the image or any opacity in between.   RMP can make that kind of map.   Imagine dropping a pushpin on the map and leaving a detailed note about exactly what is going on there or has happened in the past at that location.  Imagine saving that information to a public map so the whole world can benefit from the information you added to RMP’s public & free map.  RMP can make that kind of map too.  Our Michigan made software is now ready, but we have no money to push it.

The map shown below is just a demonstration & example of what RMP can do using the Google Maps API v3.   But, RMP cannot make full featured maps without funding.   Please consider making a small tax-deductible donation to our small non-profit 501(c)3 organization by clicking here if you would like to see our maps get as good as they can be.  We can’t do it without your financial support.  Thanks.

Click here to open RMP’s Interactive Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume demonstration map in a full screen tab.

Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume Demonstration Map

Click Here To Enlarge Dioxane Map

This paragraph & the next have been modified from their original publication because of a comment added by Scio Residents for Safe Water [shown below].  Search the internet and see what kind of maps of the Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume are available to you.   Most of the maps you’re going to find are “static” maps.  They’re pictures of the plume.   As soon as a “static” map is saved as an image file, it grows older and older until its obsolete.   RMP’s maps are different.  RMP maps are “living” maps.   RMP is writing JavaScript right here in Michigan that is advanced and different.  RMP maps can evolve as situations evolve.  Our maps can be used by scientists, educators, health care personnel, the public, or anyone with an interest and an Internet connection.

Our mapping software is fundamentally different than the map you’ll find here at the Scio Residents for Safe Water website.   They have a great map, RMP has the same data but RMP has different software powering our map that allows users to add points, upload location specific pictures, notify people who have put a notification alert on a location, and many more things.   The sky is the limit with RMP’s mapping technology.   RMP appreciates that SRSW is drawing attention to the issue, and we hope they appreciate RMP’s efforts as well.  RMP certainly applauds the work and dedication SRSW has shown to raising awareness about the Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume.

To make RMP’s Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume map, RMP found a “static” map made by the Environmental Health Division of Department of Health of Wastenaw County, Michigan.  That map was grafted to a Google Map canvass.  This allows you to look at our demonstration map by zooming and zooming out on the areas of the map to get:  a ground level view, a bird’s eye view, or a airplane’s eye view.   This map is pretty neat, but it can be much better.  Data from the MDEQ’s Microsoft Access Database  can be linked to clickable points.   Entire databases of groundwater monitoring data can be linked to real map markers and updated in real time.   RMP cannot make this map to its full potential, however, without financing.

RMP is working on making maps of the top ten hot-spot contamination areas in Michigan and the Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume is on RMP’s Top 10 List.   RMP has already made a demonstration map of Wurtsmith Air Force Base which you can see by clicking here.   RMP is also working on a story & map about the Zephyr Petroleum Storage Facility in Muskegon, Michigan.   RMP would like to incorporate all of the Michigan Areas of Concern into our mapping system but we cannot do so without funding.  Currently RMP is focusing on contamination sites of interest to demonstrate how our mapping technology can fundamentally change how environmental data is filed and referenced.  Our mapping technology files information geospatially and our maps are different than static maps.   Look for RMP to map these sites in the future:  The Wickes Manufacturing TCE Plume in Antrim County, the Cement Kiln Dust material in Thunder Bay in Lake Huron, Belding Products in Ionia County, the Wayne County Historical Smelter Project, and many more.

Please consider helping our small non-profit change the way environmental data is mapped and how environmental science is done by clicking here to make a donation.   Our Michigan made software is different than anything you’ve seen on the Internet.  If you can see the potential in helping our small organization with a financial donation, we would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for reading.  Please like us on facebook, share this post on your facebook by clicking the button below, and follow us on Twitter by clicking here.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking here.  Thanks!

2 Replies to “Interactive Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume Map Demo”

  1. “Search the internet and see if you can find an interactive map of the Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume. All the maps you’re going to find are “static” maps. … RMP found the best “static” map out there…” Really?!?
    Searching for Ann Arbor Dioxane Plume gives Scio Residents for Safe Water: SRSW as 2nd item https://sites.google.com/site/srsworg/Home/images … which has several 2D, 3D. & 4D depictions of the Pall/Gelman/Danaher dioxane plumes that can be viewed interactively in Google Earth. Some of the layers show as many as 20,000 data points… updated by volunteers at least annually… hardly a static map. We’d be happy to show you how it’s done.

    1. That’s great Scio Residents for Safe Water. Thanks for sharing. I had not found your site in my searches. You have created some helpful maps. Please don’t be offended that I hadn’t found them when I had written this post. If there is any collaboration we can do that could enhance your maps, please let me know.

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