“I’ll count to three this time and we’ll clap after three, ok? One. Two. Three…” Dylan Darling and Lauren Wirtis simultaneously clap into their microphones – a trick that makes it easier to align their separate recordings. You know in movies when the person says “take six!” and then snap the clapper board shut? SameContinue reading “The future of air quality and wildfire smoke in Oregon”
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From landfill to housing: Cleanup begins at Stevens Ranch in Bend
Meandering through the sagebrush and juniper trails at the Stevens Road Tract in southeast Bend, a hiker might never suspect they are walking over acres of buried trash. Decades-old tires, building materials containing asbestos and household trash fill in former holes and collapsed lava tubes on about 40 acres of the newly planned 382-acre mixed-useContinue reading “From landfill to housing: Cleanup begins at Stevens Ranch in Bend”
Staff Spotlight on Sarah Idczak, her mapping skills are helping Oregon
Mention Earth Day, and DEQ’s Sarah Idczak thinks back to her days as an undergrad at Western Washington University.
“The environmental college hosted an Annual Earth Day Festival. There were live bands, great food and lots of dancing. It was a great chance to take a step back from all the environmental problems we were studying and celebrate the victories,” says Idczak. “It allowed us to take a breath and just celebrate this big, beautiful blue marble that we all get to call home.
Willamette Cove Cleanup Plan: 3 things to know
The Willamette Cove Upland cleanup plan protects human health and the environment.
In her own words: Reflections on being a woman in leadership
I’ve pursued paths that, while they weren’t unheard of for women, women were definitely in the minority. My undergraduate degree is in civil engineering—a time when women made up about 10% of the students in my degree program. That was the highest percentage among the all the engineering fields of study at the time.
First electric school buses come to Oregon, bringing fresh air to students
The Beaverton School District and Portland General Electric have partnered to bring the first two electric school buses to Oregon. Each vehicle will cut about 52,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. That means students, drivers and neighborhoods will breathe cleaner air and overall air quality will improve.
DEQ expands eligibility for school bus engine grants
Across the state, students are beginning to head back to in-person schooling, and that means more and more school buses are returning to the roads. As such, Oregon DEQ is working to make that transportation cleaner and safer for those children and the environment.
Oregon DEQ’s Vehicle Inspection Program puts 2020 in rearview mirror
From the extraordinary pandemic to the intruding smoke from massive wildfires, 2020 presented Oregon DEQ’s vehicle testing inspectors with demands they had never before encountered.
Oregon expands DEQ protection of pristine waters in Crater Lake and Waldo Lake
Crater Lake and Waldo Lake have always stood out as waters in Oregon. Crater Lake, the namesake for the only National Park in the state, has clear blue water. The deep lake fills a volcanic caldera. Waldo Lake, nestled into the Cascades near Oakridge, holds exceptionally clear water. So clear that it is like distilledContinue reading “Oregon expands DEQ protection of pristine waters in Crater Lake and Waldo Lake”
Local communities get boost for projects that reduce waste
Nearly 20 organizations around the state can now step up their efforts to reduce waste, increase reuse and repair, resue food and support responsible recycling.
