The Arizona Legislature established ADEQ as the state’s environmental regulatory agency under the Environmental Quality Act of 1986. Its mission is to protect and enhance public health and the environment in Arizona. The department achieves this mission by administering our state’s environmental laws and delegated federal programs to prevent pollution of our air, water and land, and to clean up such pollution when it occurs. The department’s organizational structure is composed of four programmatic divisions that fulfill our environmental protection mission in the areas of air quality, water quality, waste programs, and tank programs.

The Upper Hassayampa groundwater basin covers approximately 787 square miles within Maricopa and Yavapai counties and is located about 60 miles northwest of Phoenix. The basin is characterized by mid-elevation mountains and had an estimated population of 10,479 in 2000. The largest population center is the Town of Wickenburg. Other communities include Congress and Groom Creek. Low-intensity livestock grazing is the predominant land use and most ranches have limited acreages of irrigated pasture to raise additional animal feed. There are no surface water diversions or impoundments besides small stock ponds within the basin. Groundwater is the only source for public water supply, domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes. Public water supply uses the most groundwater in the basin.

The Aravaipa Canyon groundwater basin covers approximately 517 square miles in southeastern Arizona within Graham and Pinal counties. Largely undeveloped, the remote basin has an estimated 135 residents and includes the community of Klondyke. Low-intensity livestock grazing is the predominant land use although there are some irrigated fields and orchards along Aravaipa Creek. Historic mining activity resulted in the creation of the Klondyke Tailings Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund site in 1998. Groundwater is used for all domestic purposes within the basin as well as most irrigation and stock water supplies. Irrigation uses the most groundwater in the basin.

The Arizona Department of Health Services completed this health consultation at the request of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. This consult evaluates whether soil vapors from volatile organic compounds in the subsurface near the Silver Creek Subdivision in Tucson, Arizona are present at levels that may cause adverse health effects.

The Rodeo-Chediski Fire Complex began as a small blaze in a remote region of east-central Arizona and within days erupted into the largest wildfire in Arizona history. Fortunately, no lives were lost. However, from June 18, 2002 to the time of its containment on July 7, 2002, the Rodeo-Chediski fire destroyed over 490 structures and 467,000 acres of ponderosa pine and pinyon-juniper woodland—an estimated 500 million to 1.3 billion board feet of timber. Jurisdictions involved included the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, the Tonto National Forest, and private lands adjacent to Highway 260, from the Town of Forest Lakes east to the City of Show Low. Virtually all of the acres burned were in Navajo County, with some damage in the contiguous counties of Coconino, Apache, and Gila Counties. This health assessment describes the fire events and summarizes the resulting public health impacts from the fire.

The Arizona Department of Health Services conducted a carbon monoxide exposure survey among recreational boaters at the Maricopa County Lake Pleasant Regional Park during the 2003 Labor Day weekend. To investigate the extent that recreational boaters are exposed to carbon monoxide from a variety of watercraft, ADHS measured exhaled carbon monoxide to determine the amount of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) present in their blood. To determine whether a widespread public health hazard exists because of carbon monoxide exposure from watercraft, the ADHS health consultation, "Investigation of Carbon Monoxide Exposure, Rotary Beach at the London Bridge, Lake Havasu, Arizona, May 25-26, 2003", recommended conducting further biomonitoring studies at other recreational lakes in Arizona. ADHS asked the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), under its Cooperative Agreement Program with ADHS, to interpret data from the Lake Pleasant survey and to determine whether carbon monoxide exposure is a public health hazard among recreational boaters at Lake Pleasant.

The Santa Cruz County Health Department and the sheriff's office, along with the U.S. Border Patrol have expressed concerns regarding incidental contact with the water in Nogales Wash, Arizona. The public has expressed significant concern about direct public exposure to waters flowing in the wash. The Arizona Department of Health Services completed this health consultation to evaluate the levels of organic and inorganic chemicals at the request of the Santa Cruz County Health Department.

In March 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requested information on efforts to monitor and protect children from exposure to lead in drinking water at schools. The Arizona Department of Health Services reviewed the state lead poisoning registry, and analyzed drinking water samples from 45 randomly selected schools. The Office of Environmental Health provided this consultation to help document our findings and supplement our response to the EPA. This work was also undertaken to help provide useful information should hazardous waste sites be discovered in the future near these schools. We also wanted to apply the ATSDR health assessment process in support of state and federal efforts to protect the health of children.