FLORIDA GEOGRAPHIC DATA LIBRARY DOCUMENTATION
VERSION 2005
TITLE: US EPA NATIONAL PRIORITY SITES FROM CERCLIS
Geodataset Name: EPANPL Geodataset Type: SHAPE Geodataset Feature: POLYGONS
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
This dataset contains the NPL boundary information developed as one component of the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) National Priority List Site Coordinate Quality Assurance and Digitizing project undertaken in 1992 with the EPA's Environmental Photographic Interpretation Center (EPIC).
DATA SOURCE(S): US Environmental Protection Agency SCALE OF ORIGINAL SOURCE MAPS: 1:24000 1:250000 GEODATASET EXTENT: Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Jackson, Lake, Madison, Orange, Palm Beach, Polk, Suwannee, Volusia
DATE OF AUTOMATION OR SOURCE: 1991
FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES
Datafile Name: EPANPL.DBF
NAME WIDTH TYPE PRECISION AREA 18 DECIMAL 5 PERIMETER 18 DECIMAL 5 EPANPL_ 5 DECIMAL EPANPL_ID 5 DECIMAL CERCLIS_ID 12 CHARACTER SITE_NAME 60 CHARACTER REGION 2 DECIMAL LATDD 12 DECIMAL 3 LONDD 12 DECIMAL 3 DESCRIPT 60 CHARACTER
FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES CODES AND VALUES:
Item Definition CERCLIS_ID Site identification code number SITE_NAME Site name REGION EPA Region number LATDD Site latitude in decimal degrees LONDD Site longitude in decimal degrees DESCRIPT FGDL added item containing SITE_NAME
USER NOTES:
The project was designed to verify that existing site coordinates fell within site boundaries, create a GIS database of the site boundary information, and report on coordinate data accuracy.
The following information is an excerpt from the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) National Priority List Site Coordinate Quality Assurance and Digitizing Project Summary (TSPIC-93015, March 1993), Draft, Contract No. 68033532, pages 48.
Scale is an important factor in data usage. Certain scale datasets are not suitable for some project, analysis, or modelling purposes. Please be sure you are using the best available data.
1:24000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the county level. 1:24000 data should NOT be used for high accuracy base mapping such as property parcel boundaries.
1:100000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the multicounty or regional level.
1:250000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the regional or state level or larger.
Vector datasets with no defined scale or accuracy should be considered suspect. Make sure you are familiar with your data before using it for projects or analyses. Every effort has been made to supply the user with data documentation. For additional information, see the References section and the Data Source Contact section of this documentation. For more information regarding scale and accuracy, see our web pages at:
http://www.geoplan.ufl.edu/education.html
FGDL QUALITY ASSURANCE STATUS:
-Reprojected data to FGDL Albers
-Set Precision to DOUBLE
-Set Tolerances to FGDL Standards
-Added DESCRIPT item based on SITE_NAME
-Dropped items: STATE_NAME, Redefined items based on CERCLIS_ID
REFERENCES:
DATA LINEAGE SUMMARY:
Boundary Compilation and Transfer
Key information on site boundary sources is archived in the EMSLLV Report Locator Database. Report Locator records containing CERCLIS identification
numbers were downloaded to ASCII text files. The text files were read into
a dBase format file and related to the master database using CERCLIS identification numbers.
Following this procedure, key information such as quadrangle names, AMD_PIC numbers, and Site/Spill Identification (SSID) numbers was obtained from the Report Locator Database and transferred to the master database.
Once the master database was updated using Report Locator information, a site data sheet was designed and printed for each site, and a list of quadrangle
names was generated. The data sheet provided the initial search information
and space for compilation of additional information. The list of quadrangle
names was used to order base maps.
Boundary Compilation
Once the data sheets were completed, the search focused on obtaining site
boundaries. Site boundary sources include: CERCLA Atlas, EPIC Reports, EPA Regions and other sources (e.g., information obtained from the EPA
headquarters library and federal facility boundaries obtained from quadrangle maps). The two primary sources used to gather site boundary information were
the CERCLA Atlas and EPIC Reports. EPIC Reports were obtained for those sites
not included in the CERCLA Atlas. These analyses contain boundaries keyed to both maps and photographic enlargements of the site. Boundaries obtained from
the CERCLA Atlas and EPIC Reports were considered to be photointerpreted;
however, some appear as nonphotointerpreted source due to their
standardized shapes or point locations. On site data sheets, these cases were noted as nonphotointerpreted.
If site boundaries could not be identified from the CERCLA Atlas or EPIC
Reports, the appropriate EPA Region was contacted for boundary sources. In
response to requests, a variety of maps and information were received
from the regions. This information was considered to be nonphotointerpreted. Regional personnel were unable to assist in providing suitable site
boundaries for 25 of the 1249 sites.
Other sources of site boundaries included documents from the EPA library in Washington, D.C., and federal facility boundaries delineated on quadrangle
maps. Site boundary source and photointerpretation information
were recorded at the bottom of the data sheet.
In most cases, discrepancies in site data concerning CERCLA identification numbers and site names were settled by referencing a set of publications
representing the National Priorities List, 49 state reports (National
Technical Information Services (NTIS) publication number: PB2963253). These publications were produced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Office of Program Management.
Since no minimum mapping units were specified for this project, site
boundaries obtained from various sources representing small sites, buildings,
or point data were processed in the following manner. Small site boundaries
mapped at 1:24,000 or 1:25,000 scale, were digitized. The smaller site
digitized was approximately 1500 square meters or .15 hectacres (.4 acres).
Minimum mapping units based on the constraints of digitizing hardware need
to be established in order to assess the limitations of digitizing small sites
at 1:24,000 scale. Standardized units of area (approx. 1/10 sq. inch) were
used to represent sites with points or buildings (mapped using (missing text)
scale site maps) as boundary sources.
For the purpose of documentation, a photocopy of the site boundary used in
this project was provided with the site data sheet.
Site Transfer
Site Boundaries were traced or transferred onto mylar overlays to the
corresponding USGS base maps. In addition; the site boundary, registration
marks, CERCLIS identification number, and site name were added to the mylar
overlay. For the entire project, 7.5minute quadrangle maps at 1:24,000 or 1:25,000 scale were targeted as base maps. However, in some instances site
size or geographical location required either multiple maps, small scale maps
at 1:100,000 or 1:250,000 or odd scale base maps. In the case of multiple maps,
if a significant amount of site area exceeded or extended beyond two
7.5minute quads, a smaller scale quadrangle was used. These sites were
compiled and processed on an individual basis. For those sites in which the
source was obtained from a difference scale than the base map or for those obtained from photographic prints, the boundary was transferred via the zoom
transfer scope to the appropriate map base.
Some sites were represented by more than one area. In these cases, boundaries
were traced around individual site areas and an additional boundary enclosing
the site areas was traced or drawn onto the mylar overlay. The encompassing
boundary was used to generate the centroid coordinate for the group of site
areas. Where data was available, multiple site areas were processed on an
individual basis to insure quality of data.
At this point in the process, site information had been compiled in several
forms: a complete data sheet, a photocopy of the site boundary, and a mylar
overlay with the site boundary registered to a base map.
Notes:
Two types of inherent data anomalies and nine types of data problems were
encountered by the NGIS team. The following sections document problems that
were encountered by the Team.
Anomalies:
NPL site with multiple areas
According to the NPL boundary documentation, the large polygon enclosing
multiple NPL areas was created to generate the centroid coordinates for the
group of NPL site areas. The ARC/INFO region features created for
such NPL sites only included the island polygons.
Overlapping NPL boundaries
There were cases where the boundaries of two different NPL sites overlapped.
The overlapped area was included in the ARC/INFO region feature for both NPL
sites. In the situations where labels for the polygons fell within one polygon,
one of the labels was moved into an appropriate location after the attribute
data were linked to the corresponding region feature.
Below is a list of anomalous CERCLIS IDs. The type of anomaly encountered
during processing is also listed.
CERCLIS ID Anomaly Type
FLD080174402 overlapping boundaries
FLD041184383 overlapping boundaries
In accordance with the accuracy factor reported in the NPL boundary
documentation, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR), National
Priority List Site Cordinate Quality Assurance and Digitizing Project Summary,
any lines within 40 feet of each other were extented or deleted to become a
coincident line. The CERCLIS IDs in which this condition occurred have been
paired below.
CERCLIS ID Anomaly Type
FLD041184383 extented or deleted
FLD080174402 extented or deleted
MAP PROJECTION PARAMETERS
Projection ALBERS Units METERS Datum HPGN Spheroid GRS1980 1st standard parallel 24 0 0.000 2nd standard parallel 31 30 0.000 central meridian -84 0 0.000 latitude of projection's origin 24 0 0.000 false easting (meters) 400000.00000 false northing (meters) 0.00000
DATA SOURCES CONTACT(S):
Name: United States Environmental Protection Agency Abbr.name: USEPA Address: 401 M. Street SW Washington, DC 20460 Web site: www.epa.gov Email: nsdi@epamail.epa.gov
FGDL CONTACT:
Name: FLORIDA GEOGRAPHIC DATA LIBRARY Abbr. Name: FGDL Address: Florida Geographic Data Library 431 Architecture Building PO Box 115706 Gainesville, FL 326115706 Web site: http://www.fgdl.orgContact FGDL:
Technical Support: http://www.fgdl.org/fgdlfeed.html FGDL Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.fgdl.org/fgdlfaq.html FGDL Mailing Lists: http://www.fgdl.org/fgdl-l.html For FGDL Software: http://www.fgdl.org/software.html