EUGENE – Oregon DEQ Director Leah Feldon on Tuesday joined Casey Sixkiller – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 Administrator – to celebrate milestones for the J.H. Baxter cleanup in west Eugene. Earlier this month, the EPA proposed the addition of J.H. Baxter to the Superfund National Priorities List. This past June, DEQ finished theContinue reading “J.H. Baxter contaminated soil cleanup in Eugene reaches milestone”
Category Archives: Cleanup
Congratulations to the EPA Brownfield Grant recipients in Oregon
After going through an incredibly competitive grant process, eight of the nine Oregon applicants prevailed and will receive $4.4 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s brownfield grants and loans program. These grants will support these applicants in doing environmental assessments, sampling and cleanup of brownfields in their communities.
The three most important ways Oregon is fighting climate change
cent headlines warn that the window is quickly closing to protect our future and preserve a livable planet. In Oregon, we have seen the effects of the climate crisis first-hand: hundreds of deaths from extreme heat waves; thousands of homes destroyed by wildfire; lakes and rivers drying up before our eyes; farmers without water to grow food; and the toxic algal blooms that shut down the city of Salem’s drinking water system for weeks in 2018.
Johnson Oil in Clatskanie one step closer to redevelopment after latest DEQ cleanup project
DEQ is removing petroleum-contaminated soil at Johnson Oil, a former gas station and car dealership in Clatskanie that began operating in 1957. The soil-removal is the latest effort to clean up the site, which has a history of contamination dating back to the 1980s. Columbia County acquired the property through foreclosure in 2007.
Include old electronics in your next spring cleaning purge
No matter how hard we work at “spring cleaning.” there’s often one area that’s overlooked – our old, unused electronics. A recent survey found that most of us in Oregon have broken or obsolete TVs, computers, printers or other electronics hiding in plain sight at home. These electronics languish in closets or under sofas, in attics or storage and generally evade our spring cleaning efforts.
Willamette Cove Cleanup Plan: 3 things to know
The Willamette Cove Upland cleanup plan protects human health and the environment.
Old mines pose many dangers: Why DEQ and EPA restricted access to the old Opalite mercury mine
Massive hills of pinkish red rock stand along a lonely dirt road in far southeastern Oregon. The problem? They’re toxic.
DEQ experts to share environmental knowledge and experience
More than a dozen experts with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality are preparing to participate in 13 of 32 sessions on environmental protection, compliance, new technologies, sustainable business practices and trending policy issues Dec. 8-9 during the Business and Environment Conference sponsored by DEQ, Washington Department of Ecology and the Northwest Environmental Business Council.Continue reading “DEQ experts to share environmental knowledge and experience”
DEQ plays key role in 2020 wildfire cleanup and recovery
The series of wildfires that roared through Oregon in September destroyed thousands of residences and other structures. The cleanup process that will allow families and businesses to rebuild is well underway. Here’s an update on the progress, and DEQ’s role. Two-step debris removal process – DEQ is part of the Debris Management Task Force, alongContinue reading “DEQ plays key role in 2020 wildfire cleanup and recovery”
COVID, wildfire work shines spotlight on DEQ’s Angela Rowland
Before the global pandemic and the Oregon wildfires this year, Angela Rowland was working full-time as a Water Quality Permitting Policy Analyst at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The job she signed up for on Oct. 1, 2019 quickly morphed into something no one could’ve expected. This year, while continuing her water quality programContinue reading “COVID, wildfire work shines spotlight on DEQ’s Angela Rowland”