Posts Categorized: PATSAC

Is Cleaner Air Oregon really different?

Posted by & filed under air toxics, DEQ, PATSAC.

I wrote this “open letter” in response to a facebook post earlier this week on the Eastside Portland Air Coalition facebook page.  It was a comment from one of EPAC’s founders, Jessica Applegate, a woman who has been tirelessly dedicated to clean air activism since last spring, and who has emerged as a true leader… Read more »

Salem Update: DEQ Air Monitoring Grant

Posted by & filed under air toxics, Citizen's Right-to-know, City of Portland, DEQ, environmental justice, EPA NATA, hotspots, Multnomah County, PATSAC, Toxic Hot Spots.

None of us want to have to wear gas masks when we walk outside on these beautiful days.  But the problem with air pollution, especially some of the most dangerous particulate matter pollution associated with heavy diesel transportation and industrial production, is that it is nearly invisible. That is why Oregon needs to monitor.  And… Read more »

To test or not to test

Posted by & filed under air toxics, Citizen's Right-to-know, DEQ, environmental justice, Health Benchmarks, lead, manganese, Multnomah County, Oregon, PATS, PATSAC, Portland, right to know, Toxic Hot Spots, transparency, USA Today.

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?

EPA releases latest National Air Toxics Assessment

Posted by & filed under air toxics, DEQ, environmental justice, EPA NATA, Health Benchmarks, Multnomah County, PATSAC, Portland, Toxic Hot Spots.

Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency issued its latest data on air pollution called the National Air Toxics Assessment or NATA.  NATA is designed to provide estimates of the risk of cancer and other serious health effects from breathing (inhaling) air toxics in order to inform both national and more localized efforts to identify and prioritize… Read more »

Portland Air Toxics Solution Advisory Committee Mtg #8 recap

Posted by & filed under air toxics, environmental justice, Environmental Quality Commission, Health Benchmarks, PATSAC, Toxic Hot Spots.

As the PATSAC process rounds the corner to its finish line stretch, the work of the committee is definitely getting more interesting. At the last two meetings, the quality of DEQ materials has been impressive, including the detailed PATS 2017 Pollutant Modeling Summary presented at the January 25th meeting, and from this last meeting, the… Read more »