Concern growing that DEQ will not meet EPA May 23rd deadline for applying EPA has announced up to $700,000 available to state regulators for Community-Scale Air Monitoring to assess the risk in the toxic hot spots like those identified in the USA Today Smokestack Report. See the list of schools that rank the worst in… Read more »
Posts Categorized: citizen engagement
Good Neighbor Agreement
Air pollution problems are inherently local, the worst of them manifesting in “Toxic Hot Spots.” Yet this is specifically the area where the Clean Air Act and the state regulatory framework has failed to protect citizens. If direct citizen negotiation is still considered the most effective means of addressing local toxic hot spots, citizens need stronger public advocates to work on their behalf. Portland should look to the spirit of what the Houston Mayor did, which was to say, the city is the best entity to look out for the equitable protection of all its citizens and should be creative in its ideas of how to engage on the issue.
The public meeting the public wasn’t invited to.
The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has often taken the chance to sing the praises of citizens who are actively engaged in the effort to advocate for cleaner air. Just this past week, the NW Examiner’s April edition came out with a letter from Andy Ginsburg praising Paul Koberstein’s interest in air quality and the… Read more »