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Drones Used to Identify Pollution

Environmentalist Brent Walls is helping¹ to bring drone technology into the fight against pollution. He works for the Waterkeeper Alliance, a worldwide network of clean water groups. Walls teaches activists² across the United States to pilot drones.

Drones permit activists to discover areas that would otherwise be difficult to travel to or may be costly³ to find. The unmanned aircraft are especially useful for searching for polluted areas surrounded by private land.

Images captured by drones permit environmentalists to build legal cases against polluters through the U.S. Clean Water Act. This law aims to protect the nation's water from numerous forms of pollution.

The Clean Water Act permits individuals – not just federal officials – to enforce the law. But even though drones can be very useful in searching out polluted areas, they are rarely used in this way. Walls hopes to change that.

To use drones to collect evidence, activists must have a federally issued pilot's certificate. They must also learn to work within state and local laws.

Walls is part of a group called "Riverkeepers." It is a non-profit organization that watches over and protects river systems across the United States. Walls himself is the Riverkeeper for the upper Potomac River in the northeastern United States.

The Riverkeepers have used drones to collect evidence for legal cases in the past. Walls says images from drones helped push a coal mining organization in West Virginia to clean up their operations.

Cara Schildtknecht is the Riverkeeper for the Waccamaw River, which flows through North Carolina and South Carolina. She recently completed her training course and received a pilot's certificate.

Schildtknecht told The Associated Press that using a drone will help her see areas in her watershed⁴ that are hard to reach by boat. The aircraft will also help her record floods and find polluters. The view from above, she said, "is a gamechanger," one that in the past required paying a pilot for a manned flight.

"We have certain areas that we know could be of concern that we want to check out," Schildtknecht said.

Drone technology has been developing very quickly. New drones are easier to fly and capture better images compared to older models. The drones used by Walls' students are paid for with a grant. They cost around $2,000 each.

In 2019, Walls presented drone images and other evidence to Specialty⁵ Granules, a mining company. As a result of the action, the company agreed to put a filtration system on one of its water systems that reduced pollution levels.

Matthew McClure is the vice⁶ president of operations at Specialty Granules. He said in a statement that the company uses its own drones in its business operations. He added that the company does not generally welcome surprise inspections⁷ from drones piloted by activists.

Anastasia Telesetsky is an environmental law professor at California Polytechnic⁸ State University. She told the Associated Press she thinks drones are a useful tool for finding pollution that has remained hidden.

She said, "There's a lot of groups that know there is a problem but have been limited in the tools they can use to compel regulators to do their jobs."

Martin Lively is the Grand Riverkeeper in northeastern Oklahoma. The area is home to a former mining site listed on the U.S. Superfund list. Superfund sites are polluted areas in the United States identified as requiring long-term measures to clean up hazardous⁹ pollution.

"It is extremely polluted with lead, zinc¹⁰, arsenic¹¹, cadmium, manganese," Lively said of the site. "And all of that flows into my watershed."

Because of the pollution, the river water is tested often. But a drone can go a step further. It can help see, for example, whether cleaned up properties might be re-polluted during floods.

Lively says a drone is a storytelling tool that can capture powerful images. "That is a tool never to be underestimated in litigation," he said.

Words in This Story

drone – n. a type of small aircraft that flies without a pilot

certificate – n. a document that is official proof that you have finished school or a course of training

watershed – n. the area of land that includes a particular river or lake and all the rivers, streams, etc., that flow into it

grant – n. an amount of money provided by a government or organization for a special purpose

filter – v. to pass liquid or gas through a piece of equipment in order to remove solid pieces of other substances

compel – v. to force (someone) to do something

regulator – v. an official who works for the part of the government that controls a public activity by making and enforcing rules

hazardous – adj. risky¹² or dangerous

litigate – v. to make (something) the subject of a lawsuit

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

5 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 polytechnic   

adj.各种工艺的，综合技术的；n.工艺(专科)学校；理工(专科)学校

参考例句：

• She was trained as a teacher at Manchester Polytechnic.她在曼彻斯特工艺专科学校就读，准备毕业后做老师。
• When he was 17,Einstein entered the Polytechnic Zurich,Switzerland,where he studied mathematics and physics.17岁时，爱因斯坦进入了瑞士苏黎士的专科学院，学习数学和物理学。

9 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

10 zinc   

n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

11 arsenic   

n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的

参考例句：

• His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
• Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。

12 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。