Did you know RMP was the first Michigan organization to publish an interactive map of the Gelman 1,4 Dioxane Plume?   RMP remains the only non-profit 501(c)3 organization in Michigan to offer a free interactive map of the Gelman 1,4 Dioxane Plume.  RMP published the 1st interactive Google Map of all locations in the Pall Science Access DB in May of 2016, just over 8 years ago.   About three years later and five years ago now, RMP published our 2nd generation Gelman 1,4 Dixoane Map.   Today, we are officially launching our 3rd generation map.  This is our most sophisticated and feature rich map yet.

I CAN’T WAIT – JUMP ME STRAIGHT TO THE NEW MAP

While none of RMP’s maps are ever complete, this release marks a milestone for RMP’s version of the Gelman Map and our software as a whole.  This map not only demonstrates a comprehensive coverage of all the most important features of the Ann Arbor Dioxane 1,4 Plume, it’s demonstrates a maturity in RMP’s mapping software.  RMP can now use our software to more easily map other locations in Michigan.  We can prototype a map more quickly with all of the same powerful tools used for this map.

What Constitutes A Good Environmental Remediation Map?

RMP’s mapping software consists of three basic features:  points, polylines, and polygons.  Points can be oil wells, water monitoring wells, residential wells, extraction wells or anything really.   They’re represented by a single latitude & longitude pair on a Google Map.  Polylines are several lat/lon combinations that can make a road, a river, train tracks, or anything similar.   And a polygon is just a polyline with same starting and ending point so it can be closed.  With these three simple features, RMP can make maps that are feature rich.  Anything on the map can be ‘clicked on‘ to drive down into more detail from our SQL databases built through the years.

RMP and EGLE use the same data for our maps (EGLE map here).  The main source of that data is the Pall Sciences original database started in 1986.  The data sampling and well drilling go back about 38 years in a Microsoft Access Database.   EGLE (formerly the Michigan DEQ) has recently contracted with private environmental consulting firms to help map the extent of the dioxane 1,4 plume in Ann Arbor.  The most significant update comes through EGLE’s contracting of Rockwell.  Rockwell introduced new plume maps in 2020 which have been integrated into RMP’s 3rd generation map.  RMP still has the plume polygons from SRSW.org but keeps them turned off when you first load the map.  You can turn on the old plume polygons with one click.  You can overlay both sets of polygons on top of each other or one at a time to mark the differences.

Rockwell used the data from the MS Access database to do sophisticated modeling of the plume extent based on readings from multiple wells across Ann Arbor and Scio Township at various depths.  Rockwell took into consideration the data and lithology to give us a new look at the Ann Arbor dioxane plume.   RMP has integrated these same plume polygons into our 3rd generation map.  All the data is available from EGLE at their main data repository which you can get to by clicking here.   This is the same data RMP uses for our map along with some supplemental data RMP has collected over the past 15 years of following developments on this ongoing remediation effort.

One of the coolest features in RMP’s 3rd generation map is the fine grain control you now have to turn on and off the different points, polylines, and polygons.  As you can see in the 10 second looping video above, you can turn off/on all the markers with one click and also turn off/on all the polygons and polylines with one click.  You can also turn on one marker type at a time (e.g. all extraction wells).  Individual polygons and polylines work the same way.  These new grouping features make finding what you’re looking for easier and faster.  Now with one click, you can remove a lot of clutter, and turn on things one at a time to see just what you’re after.

With the Google Maps API, you can zoom down to a bird’s eye view quickly and see familiar landmarks.  You can also grab the little guy in the lower right hand corner of the map and drag him over to the map and drop down into street view, and that is super cool.  That’s something you cannot do on an ARCGIS map.

If you hover over features on the map, you will see the location’s name and most recent dioxane reading.  If you click on any feature on the map, a page will launch with details about that location including a graph of the location’s dioxane sampling history.  Check out the short video clip below to see an example of how you can hover over any marker and see more information about it.  Then watch as MW-77 is clicked and its homepage launches with all the details of that location.  You can click on any of the 536 locations, 19 polylines, or 53 polygons on this map.

Bookmark this map’s homepage from the link below:

https://www.respectmyplanet.org/public_html/site/map/ann_arbor_dioxane_plume

The map homepage above will have links to all the videos and articles RMP publishes related to the ongoing study of the Gelman dioxane plume.

RMP has created a Map Library that you can find in our nav menu at the top of this page but you can also get to it by clicking here.   At the time of this publication, there are six maps in RMP’s library.  Each map has a homepage like the one listed above for the Ann Arbor 1,4 Dioxane Plume.  If you’re interested in a particular map, you should bookmark both the map and the map’s homepage.   The map’s homepage is where RMP will link all the articles and videos we publish related to that map.  You can also subscribe to RMP’s blog at the bottom of this page.

Monitoring a dioxane plume or any other environmental remediation situation is not a one time event.  It’s a journey.  There is a lot of great information about this remediation effort and RMP will be exploring it, documenting it, and sharing it on this website.

Bookmark RMP’s homepage for the Gelman 1,4 Dioxane Map if you want to follow along with updates.

Check out our other maps and if you want to follow those stories, you can bookmark those as well.

RMP is a Michigan 501(c)3 non-profit.  Please consider making a tax deductible donation through our secure connection to PayPal.  Thanks!