Tennesse's Environment: 1996
Safeguarding the Future

This report highlights the environmental accomplishments of the last 25 years and attempts to give an objective assessment of the current condition of Tennessee’s environment. To safeguard the future, we must address the challenges that the future may hold and develop a strategic vision and plan for reaching environmental goals.

The Challenges

In air quality, maintaining the ambient standard for ground-level ozone is one of Tennessee’s most serious issues. Several factors will continue to make attainment of the ozone standard difficult, such as the increasing number of vehicle miles traveled each year and the natural emissions that help create ozone.

The long-term problem of chemical residues found in fish, such as PCBs, chlordane and dioxin, and the polluted runoff from our cities, farms and homes are some of the most serious challenges to improving the overall quality of our rivers and lakes. The protection and restoration of groundwater aquifers across the state will remain an expensive yet vital task, which will require even greater attention as our population grows.

We are now faced with a second generation of environmental problems that may be significantly more costly to solve and do not necessarily lend themselves to easy solutions. Some of these include new biological pollutants of drinking water (i.e., Cryptosporidium), indoor air pollution and lead-based paint, destructive exotic plant and animal species (i.e., purple loosestrife, gypsy moths), widespread habitat alteration and the resulting decline in biodiversity, and — perhaps of greatest concern — the global alteration of weather and stratospheric ozone (Setting Priorities, Getting Results, National Academy of Public Administration, 1995).

Future Directions, A Strategy for Tennessee

Foremost in Tennessee’s strategy for the next 25 years is the continued development of clear environmental goals and benchmarks. The TDEC will continue to to implement environmental laws in a common-sense and cost-effective manner, addressing the most serious problems first.

With Tennesseans committed to build on the efforts of the past 25 years, new technologies, strategies and partnerships will address seemingly unsolvable problems. All of Tennessee will be in attainment for the major air pollutants. Dangerous hazardous waste and petroleum underground storage tank sites that contaminate our soil and groundwater and impact the health of our citizens will be eliminated through compliance deadlines and enforcement actions. Through a focused strategy for each impacted watershed and the use of evolving technology, Tennessee’s water quality will improve over the next 10 years so that 85 percent of all streams and lakes will support fishing and swimming. Efforts to safeguard our drinking water will have progressed to the point that nearly all of our surface and groundwaters will meet drinking water source standards.

Tennessee’s environmental strategy for the next 25 years will also focus on protecting and conserving the state’s special value resources, such as natural areas and greenways. The natural balance of Tennessee’s environment will be valued, restored and preserved so that all Tennesseans share in its benefits.

The vitality of our economy and the protection of our environment are mutually dependent. During the next 25 years, we will work in partnership with businesses, cities, farmers, private citizens and the federal agencies to reach joint environmental goals, using sound science to guide public policy. Cooperation between business leaders and environmentalists, through their joint participation in efforts such as the 2000 Initiative, will have created a new era of consensus building and planning. This continued cooperation is critical to meeting the challenges of the year 2020 and beyond.

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