Many people are unwittingly poisoning the environment by not maintaining septic systems, neglecting wells, overusing pesticides and dumping paint and motor oil on the ground, among other acts of carelessness, says a Cornell University environmental chemist.

To help promote better understanding of environmental risks around the home, Ann Lemley, director of the Water Quality Extension Program at Cornell, says a pollution prevention program provides education on subjects such as protecting water quality, managing septic systems, disposing of hazardous household products and employing safe yard and garden care. The program was developed from a national award-winning, pollution-education effort supported by several federal agencies.

The cornerstone of the Home*A*Syst (for "home assessment system") program is an $8, 116-page booklet on environmental safety that includes information and checklists for homeowners and tenants to use to evaluate their homes and property for pollution and health risks.

In partnership with extension educators throughout New York state, Lemley is spearheading a variety of Home*A*Syst efforts throughout the state; these include collecting state-specific materials to use in training county extension agents to help consumers with environmental risks, educational workshops conducted throughout New York state, and pilot programs in Chemung, Sullivan, Tompkins and Onondaga counties that evaluate innovative ways of using the program.

Other areas covered by Home*A*Syst include indoor air quality, lead poisoning, liquid fuel storage, heating and cooling systems, and household trash. Others at Cornell are providing support for many of these topics. "We want to educate homeowners, property owners and renters about drinking water quality and protection, home water testing and treatment, septic system maintenance, and disposal of household chemicals," says Lemley.

In 1993 Lemley reported that as many as half of New York well owners were neglecting both the source and disposal of their water. Her research showed that between one-fourth and one-third of private water supplies in the state were harboring potentially dangerous bacteria, largely because homeowners failed to regularly test their water.

"The Home*A*Syst is an effort to remedy these problems," says John J. Schwartz, an extension associate with Cornell's Water Quality Extension Program. "And so far, the launching of Home*A*Syst in New York state has proven to be a tremendous success."

The national Home*A*Syst program, supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recently won a Hammer Award from Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review Partnership for Reinventing Government.

To purchase Home*A*Syst: An Environmental Risk-Assessment Guide for the Home, contact the Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service at 152 Riley Robb, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-5701, or e-mail: nraes@cornell.edu. For more information, see http://www.wisc.edu/homeasyst.