Phone app allows reports of hazards

Android smartphone owners can now download an app from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to file complaints and report environmental hazards in real time from their phones, according to a department news release.

The department is working on an app for iPhone owners to do the same thing, the release said. The current app is available through the Google Play Store.

Users will be asked to provide a complaint type, the county the hazard is located in and the location or driving directions to it. Users can also add photos and contact information.

People can already submit complaints online on the department’s website. The department receives about 400 complaints online every year.

“Our inspectors do a great job, but they can’t be everywhere,” department interim Director Ryan Benefield said in the release.