We know that Oregon has high levels of naturally occurring arsenic. We also know that it is emitted by polluters: metal processing specifically contributes over 60% of the human-caused arsenic emissions according to DEQ source material for the Portland Air Toxics Solutions; it also comes from agricultural pesticides and soil dust, as well as combusted fuel from vehicles. We know it is classified as a KNOWN (Class A) human carcinogen. We know that arsenic is one of 15 air toxicants that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality identified as being up to 10x over health-based benchmarks in the Portland Metro air shed. What we don’t know: How is this affecting my child? Are our children safe?
Posts Categorized: PATS
BPA Ban fails in Oregon Senate
The Oregon Senate failure to pass the BPA ban today is a wake up call. As Jon Isaacs wrote on the OLCV blog, Feb 15th in anticipation of the passing of Senate Bill 1032: “I don’t think it’s possible for a public health issue to be any less controversial and straightforward to Oregonians than keeping… Read more »
Transparency
It was disturbing to read The Oregonian article last week about DEQ’s effort to assist a major industrial polluter in circumventing Federal emission laws: DEQ to help polluter seek federal break. This article is not about jobs vs the environment. It is about DEQ’s discretionary authority and the transparency of the process the agency uses… Read more »