Google Maps Help

• Navigation Tips
• Using ECHO Google Maps
• Getting to a Map
• Viewing a Map
• Google Search Compare

1. To zoom in, double click the left mouse button, or move the scrollable zoom scale up (zoom scale located on the left side of the map).
2. To zoom out, double click the right mouse button, or move the scrollable zoom down (zoom scale located on the left side of the map).
3. To move north, south, east, or west, drag the map up, down, right, or left, respectively.

Provides real time scrolling and zooming into a subset of facilities defined in your search. This feature is integrated into most sections of ECHO. Once you reach your desired resolution, you can also turn on satellite images (resolution of these images varies across the country).

• Option 1 - Run an ECHO query in CAA, CWA, RCRA, or Multimedia. When you receive your returned list of facilities, click on the "M" in the upper right hand corner to map your facilities.
    
  
  A gray "M" or "Map" button is displayed when your list of facilities exceeds 400. You will need to refine your query to get below this limit.
  
  
  
• Option 2 - If you have pulled an ECHO report (e.g., an ECHO: Detailed Facility Report or Water Quality Report), you will see the "Map Returned Facility" link allowing you to map that facility.
  
  

• To view more details about a specific facility you can either click directly on the tear drop icon in the map or on the info icon next to the facility name within the data table.
  
  
  
  
• The Information Bubble
  • The facility name links to the Detailed Facility Report
  • "To here" and "From here" will bring you to the Google's direction finder
  • "Zoom to" will provide a much closer map view of the facility's surroundings
    
    

Google Search Compare feature added to ECHO Google Maps. A new search box on the bottom left corner of ECHO Google Maps allows ECHO users to plot facilities known to Google Local by entering a name or keyword. (According to the Google Guide, Google Local "scouts the web for addresses and clues to pinpoint where things are located.") The new "Google Search Compare" feature can enhance the information displayed in ECHO Google Maps in two respects.

• First, this feature can help ECHO users verify the accuracy of a facility's reported location by offering an additional source of geographical information. When ECHO users perform a facility search, the facility is plotted in ECHO Google Maps using locational information from the national program databases. The Google Search Compare feature allows ECHO users to also plot the facility's location using information obtained by Google Local. (Note: A facility's location according to ECHO is represented by a blue, orange, red or white balloon. A facility's location according to Google Local is represented by a pink balloon.)
  
  Example: ECHO Google Maps plots NotReal Dry Cleaners using the locational data in the Air Facility System (AFS) for "NotReal Dry Cleaners" in Thousand Palms, CA. However, a data error causes ECHO Google Maps to erroneously place NotReal Dry Cleaners three blocks from its actual location. ECHO users may discover this mistake by typing the facility name or a keyword (e.g., "dry cleaners") in the Google Search Compare box. Using information gathered by Google Local, ECHO Google Maps then plots a second location for NotReal Dry Cleaners.
  
  
  
  
• Second, the Google Search Compare feature can display the location of a facility that would otherwise not be plotted in ECHO Google Maps (because the facility's locational data is not in the national program databases or because the databases have no record of the facility).
  
  Example: In a search for all facilities in Hershey, PA regulated under the Clean Water Act, NotReal Steel Factory does not appear on the corresponding ECHO Google Map, because NotReal Steel Factory's locational data was not reported. However, an ECHO user could find the facility's location (according to Google Local) by typing a keyword (e.g., "steel") in the Google Search Compare box to find all un-plotted steel facilities in the map area.
  
  Please note that some facilities are in EPA's databases but are missing latitude/longitude information.

• Other Notes
  • If you notice a discrepancy in where the facility is plotting, please click on the facility name, then use the "Report Error" Button to notify us (there may be some lag time in getting this information corrected in our system).
    
  • Comments or suggestions about this tool can be directed to barrette.michael@epa.gov