AIR, LAND & WATER

DEQ community outreach and soil sampling event in Cathedral Park a success

After eight months of conversations with the community, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has made progress towards addressing soil contamination and protecting community health in Cathedral Park. DEQ, the Oregon Health Authority and City of Portland staff were out in the park for three days in mid-May talking to community members about soil sampling and cleanup work in the park as part of the N. Bradford Street Cleanup Project.

A person in a high-viz vest is taking soil samples in the park by pushing a long metal object into the ground to pull out the sample.

PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• 5 community meetings
• 73 survey responses
• 4 signs installed
• 24 hours of community outreach
• 12 sampling areas

Congratulations Oregonians – Oregon’s 2050 Vision for Materials Management is 10 Years Young

Photo by Minal Mistry, Cape Lookout, Oregon.

We Oregonians are proud of the beautiful and diverse landscape of our state from the Pacific coast to mountains, rivers, waterfalls, desert, forests and farmland. Oregon also enjoys a “green halo” for our forward-looking outlook about the materials we make and consume to maintain our quality of life. But did you know that you live in the only state that has a 2050 Vision, which was adopted by the Environmental Quality Commission, for how we make and use those materials and how we account for the impacts they generate? Ten years on and Oregon is still the only state with a mechanism for envisioning pathways towards 2050 that protect the beauty and grandeur of Oregon for generations to come.

Oregon DEQ releases 2021 Oregon Water Quality Index

*Bridge sampling location on the South Fork Coos River for the Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Program.*

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has released the 2021 Oregon Water Quality Index. It assesses water quality at 160 ambient monitoring stations across the state. The goal is to determine the status and identify trends in waters of the state for ambient water quality conditions. The OWQI is the only water quality key performance measure reported to the Oregon Legislature. However, unlike the Integrated Report or the Water Quality Status and Trends Report, the OWQI is not compared to water quality standards; does not evaluate if beneficial uses are supported; does not have regulatory standing; nor does it attempt to identify pollutant sources contributing to water quality impairments.

Personal Essay: Integrating Regional Solutions to DEQ’s Mission

Earth Day 2022 has come and gone, but I still think about the iconic “Earth Rise” image. Because I am a geographer, I recognize the collective and sweeping focus and perspective on air, land and water all Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s employees share in our common mission. For me and my own niche, it is such a privilege to work alongside dedicated DEQ professionals, and through the variety of ways the Regional Solutions program compliments and extends our work.

I hope that this larger view of Oregon has a positive trajectory that further motivates us, just like the perspectives Earth Rise has created.

Encouraging Green Infrastructure in Oregon

Investments in the health and resilience of Chicken Creek will benefit wildlife and the local community.

An innovative program is helping restore streambank vegetation across Oregon. The program, one of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s many, is called “water quality trading,” and trading is one of several forward-thinking efforts DEQ uses to boost investment in green infrastructure. Green infrastructure is the practice of using natural ecosystems to deliver specific services. Planting trees and other vegetation along streams to shade waterways is just one example of green infrastructure. The positive benefits of planting trees along streams (also known as riparian restoration) are well established, and include streambank stabilization, sediment and pollution filtration, wildlife habitat, water retention, and carbon sequestration. Many Oregon streams have few riparian trees to perform these important functions.

Aaron Borisenko in DEQ’s Lab nominated for public service award

DEQ’s own Aaron Borisenko has been nominated for a 2022 Public Service Recognition Week Award for his work as part of the interagency Wildfire Science Team. The team is up for the Interagency Excellence Team Award category, which honors cross-agency collaboration, stakeholder engagement and innovative approaches to intractable problems.

Your DEQ Online technology fee takes effect in July

Starting in July, a 4% technology fee will be charged on all financial transactions in Your DEQ Online, except agency-issued penalties. The fee, which was authorized by the 2021 Oregon Legislature, is necessary to pay for annual operation and maintenance costs of Your DEQ Online.

Air Quality Awareness Week: How do I make my air quality data count?

Some of the Air Quality Monitoring Team with a SensOR outside the Lab in Hillsboro (L to R): Luke Mattheis, Tom Roick, Dan Johnson and Anthony Barnack.

It’s Air Quality Awareness Week and the DEQ Laboratory and Environmental Assessment Division (You may know us as “The Lab”) thought it a great time to address one of the most common questions we receive: What is the difference between air quality data collected by DEQ and that collected by people with low-cost sensors? As scientists, we might frame the question as so: How do I collect data of known quality?

Building an air quality prediction tool

This is a guest blog by Lincoln High School student, Richard Deng, who built the Air Quality Prediction Tool. Listen to an interview with Richard on DEQ’s GreenState podcast.

Throughout the recent years, air quality in the Pacific Northwest has spiked multiple times due to wildfire smoke. With unpredictable spikes in air quality, families are caught off-guard. These sorts of incidents have occurred multiple times and will continue to surface. Without a reliable source of prediction, people are left unprepared to combat these events, and their health may be put at risk as a result.

Youth Innovation in Air Quality

It’s Air Quality Awareness Week and National Wildfire Awareness Month, so… we’ve got a really cool episode. We’re talking with Richard Deng, a freshman in high school, who after experiencing a series of smoky summers decided to dedicate his time to making an air quality prediction tool that has now won multiple science fair awards.