Colorado Announces Pre-Launch Of Interactive Environmental Health Map

DENVER, CO — The Colorado Department of Health and Environment announced Monday the pre-launch of a new, interactive map called Colorado EnviroScreen, designed to allow the state to prepare a more specified approach to environmental health across local communities. The interactive tool will be in beta testing from April 18 until May 1, and the health department has encouraged Coloradans to try out the tool.

The purpose of this tool is to highlight the areas in Colorado that are more likely to experience "higher environmental health injustices," according to the map's website. It will also identify areas that meet the criteria of a "Disproportionately Impacted Community," enabling the state to prioritize resources to reduce pollution and address environmental health infractions.

The tool, the website states, does not identify "all" areas that might be affected by environmental health issues, and it does not provide information concerning individual health problems that may result from environmental health.

"EnviroScreen is an important tool in our work toward environmental justice," said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the executive director of CDPHE, in a news release. "Everyone, no matter where they live, work, play, or learn deserves to have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and an environment free of pollutants. The information provided by EnviroScreen will help to focus our work and our community grants program to areas plagued by environmental issues for far too long."

Colorado EnviroScreen will use environmental and population factors to calculate a score for each county, census tract and census block group in the state, the website says. A higher score means that the area is "more likely to be affected by environmental health injustice."

This tool was brought about through a collaboration between the health department and a team at Colorado State University, according to a news release. Rojas Public Health, Geospatial Centroid and the Institute for the Built Environment made up the team behind Colorado EnviroScreen.

The full version of the tool is expected to launch in the summer.

"Developing a trusted resource to address environmental injustices in Colorado is our No. 1 goal," said David Rojas Rueda, project lead for the CSU team and member of the Environmental Justice Advisory Board. "A key takeaway from our community engagement sessions is that EnviroScreen is only useful to communities if it reflects their input and lived experiences. We know that is foundational to our goal."