Category Archives: Spill response

Cleaning up mercury spills

Mercury is that strange element that looks like a liquid metal bead. Many adults played with it as children. Mercury was used in a bunch of household items – fluorescent bulbs, LCD screens, old appliances, batteries, thermometers and barometers – that are now at risk of spilling. Lauren and Dylan talk with U.S. Environmental ProtectionContinue reading “Cleaning up mercury spills”

Oregon DEQ launches new Lab web page

Harris Beach State Park Beach Monitoring Program, Shane Bennett, 2021 Did you ever want to learn more about the part of DEQ collecting the data that produces the Air Quality Index or analyzing drinking water samples for Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Blooms? Well, head on over to our new web page and meet the Laboratory andContinue reading “Oregon DEQ launches new Lab web page”

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.

Recognizing DEQ Veteran Paul Seidel for 22 years of service with U.S. Coast Guard

Nov. 11 is Veteran’s Day, and DEQ thanks and honors our many staff who served and are still serving Oregon and the U.S. Today we are spotlighting Paul Seidel, Northwest Region Cleanup Manager, who recently retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves after 22 years of service.

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”

Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force to hold Annual Meeting virtually on Nov. 18

Western states and provinces along the Pacific Ocean will gather virtually this year for the Oil Spill Task Force 31st Annual Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The event is open to the public and attendance is free of charge. To register, go to: http://oilspilltaskforce.org/task-force-events/annual-meeting/