The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is honored to win the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award with the Pollution Prevention Resource Center for leadership in advancing safer chemicals and the EPA Safer Choice program.
Tag Archives: public health
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.
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.
Air Quality Awareness Week: How do I make my air quality data count?
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
Richard Deng, an Oregon high school student, felt the effects of wildfires on air quality, and then set out to make a tool to help his community.
Burning questions about burning? We have answers
Among the most frequently asked questions to DEQ at this time of year are: Am I allowed to burn yard debris in my backyard? What about smoke from my neighbor’s open burning? Here are some answers, including links to valuable resources for anyone considering setting flame to branches, leaves or other residential debris.
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.
Three things you need to know about Oregon’s Clean Fuels program
Oregon’s Clean Fuels program is designed to gradually make transportation fuels cleaner, and it complements programs to make vehicles cleaner. Its success and progress are reflected in three distinct outcomes….
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.
Environmental Quality Commission votes to establish Climate Protection Program
New DEQ program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon by 90% by 2050 Statewide, OR — Today the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission voted 3-1 to establish the Climate Protection Program which sets enforceable and declining limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels used throughout Oregon. The limits apply to diesel, gasoline, natural gasContinue reading “Environmental Quality Commission votes to establish Climate Protection Program”