geology homework

GLG 1101 – Property Hazard Assessment Instructions

Part 1

Our company, SCC Hazard Assessments Ltd., has been hired to provide environmental property assessment reports for clients who are considering relocation to another part of the country. Each team member will be researching the real or potential environmental hazards which may be associated with one of the properties that a client is considering. You will work to evaluate these individual properties and to provide a commercially viable report for our client. While I recognize that you are not professionally trained geologists, I expect a professional quality natural hazard analysis report that includes as much information as you are able to identify. Remember that this report is intended for a “client” who probably has less knowledge of geologic issues than you do. Be careful to frame the report in such a way that provides clear and concise information in a manner that is understandable for a general audience.

Property Assessment: Each student will produce a property assessment site report draft for the property chosen. The template to complete the site report draft is included in the module.

Some hints for researching your property / area:

1) Begin by putting your property address into Google Maps or Google Earth and finding its location. Look at both map view, satellite view and street view and enlarge and reduce your viewing area to get a general feel for the location and the types of hazards that may be a problem.

2) Type your property address into Google and investigate any information that may be available from realty websites. Many sites will have photos of the exterior of the home or of the views from the home that may help to illustrate the hazards associated with the property.

3) Find elevation and topographic information by looking at a topographic map of your location and the surrounding area. This website is very good (https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/ ) – you will want to look at the 7.5 minute map indices of the US Topo Maps. You will need to zoom in to see individual contour lines.

4) Use the keywords “hazard”, “geologic hazards” or “environmental hazards” along with the city or county where your property is located in your search engine to discover additional information about your property and the surrounding area.

5) Use specific hazard keywords along with your city, county or state name to find potential information (EX: Tampa sinkholes, Lake Jackson groundwater contamination, etc.)

6) Use keywords associated with specific hazards for your area and do an image search for any pictures or maps that might provide potential information or add clarity to your report. (EX: Seattle fault map, Gulf Coast hurricane map, San Francisco landfill map, etc.)

7) You can use the websites from other class assignments to do in-depth analysis on some of the properties. I will specifically be looking for detailed landslide potential for the Seattle properties and earthquake hazards for California Bay area properties.

8) Be specific about the distance of the property from any potential hazard area – the words “close” or “near” mean nothing to the client. You should use distance designations such as feet or miles to help client assess the relative hazard risk associated with the property. In Google Maps you can right click on your property and use the “Measure Distance” tool from the dropdown menu to find very specific distances to shorelines, landfills, etc.

9) Remember that you are NOT a realtor trying to “sell” this property. Limit the information on your site report to that information which is related to the environmental hazard potential of the site.

So much information is currently available on the internet that you should be able to find sufficient information to produce the requested report. Below are links to some websites that may help you get started.

General:

http://www.homefacts.com/ (EVERYONE should use this site as a starting point!!)

http://www.plotscan.com/

https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm

https://d32ogoqmya1dw8.cloudfront.net/images/research_education/katrina/landfall.gif

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/hazard/map/declarationsmap2000_07.pdf

http://www.floodtools.com/Map.aspx

https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home

http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/healthrisk/tools.html

https://geohazards.usgs.gov/

https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live

https://coast.noaa.gov/hurricanes/