Wednesday, April 26, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
Watching over us
and our homes
The Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) is a state agency
designed to help keep our
planet Earth — and us —
healthy. Currently, DEQ is
encouraging Oregonians
throughout the state to take
part in a nationwide effort
on Saturday, April 29 to col-
lect unused, unwanted or
expired medications so they
can be disposed of properly.
The federal Drug
Enforcement Administration
(DEA), in association with
hundreds of law enforce-
ment, public health and
other organizations, is
conducting the upcoming
National Prescription Drug
Take-Back Day.
Last year, Americans
turned in 366 tons (over
730,000 pounds) of prescrip-
tion drugs at almost 5,200
sites operated by DEA and
more than 4,000 of its state
and local law enforcement
partners. Overall, in its 12
previous Take-Back events,
DEA and its partners have
taken in over 7.1 million
pounds — more than 3,500
tons — of pills.
More than two dozen col-
lection events will take place
in Oregon from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. For details on event
locations and times, visit the
DEA website at www.dea
diversion.usdoj.gov/drug_
disposal/takeback. You can
select events by city, county,
and zip code.
The collection events
help people dispose of drugs
in a way that’s safe for both
people and the environment.
Because as many drugs
pass through wastewater
treatment filtering systems;
flushing unwanted drugs
down the toilet or drain ends
up polluting waterways,
For people unable to take
part in the events, more than
80 law enforcement offices
in Oregon accept unwanted
and unused drugs through-
out the year. For a list of
these sites, see www.oregon.
gov/pharmacy/Imports/OR
U n w a n t e d D r u g D r o p O ff
Sites.pdf, or contact your
local city police office or
county sheriff’s office for
more information.
On the other side of the
coin there are some com-
panies not interested in the
health of our air, water, and
soil; as a result, it’s finan-
cially unhealthy of them to
not stay within the guide-
lines of DEQ.
As an example, Contact
Industries in Prineville was
issued a $6,600 penalty
by DEQ for allegedly per-
forming unlicensed asbes-
tos abatement work at its
facility.
DEQ stated the company
employees removed approx-
imately 185 square feet of
sheet vinyl flooring from
the site in November 2016,
but later testing showed the
flooring material contained
asbestos. According to DEQ,
Contact Industries notified
DEQ of the asbestos distur-
bance and a licensed asbes-
tos abatement contractor
arrived to assess and decon-
taminate the affected area.
However, the company
violated state law by con-
ducting an asbestos abate-
ment project without being a
licensed asbestos abatement
contractor and without noti-
fying DEQ. The company is
said to have also mishandled
asbestos-containing material
and failed to properly man-
age and secure that material.
In the event you don’t
know, or have forgotten why
asbestos is such a villain in
the area of human health,
here’s a reminder:
Asbestos is the name
given to several naturally
occurring fibrous minerals
that are very strong, durable
and heat-resistant. Because
of these properties, asbestos
has been used in the manu-
facture of a wide range of
construction materials, such
as roofing shingles, ceiling
and floor tiles, insulation,
adhesives, and cement sid-
ing, along with safety tex-
tiles; and friction products
such as automobile clutch,
brake and transmission parts.
All of which we can stumble
over without warning.
Exposure to asbestos
increases our risk of devel-
oping lung disease; the
fibers become embedded
and accumulate in lung tis-
sue over time, and to make
that even more deadly, there
is no known safe level for
human exposure to asbestos.
Therefore, contact with any
amount of asbestos should
be avoided.
Symptoms to asbestos-
related problems may take
several years to develop fol-
lowing exposure. The most
common asbestos-related
lung diseases are: asbestosis,
a serious, progressive, long-
term non-cancer disease of
the lungs, caused by inhaling
asbestos fibers that irritate
lung tissues and cause the
tissues to scar, which makes
it difficult for oxygen to get
into the blood.
Then there’s chemicals
getting into our environ-
ment. DEQ issued a $6,421
civil penalty to Solaicx, Inc.,
a company the manufactures
and sells solar arrays, for
failing to comply with the
monitoring requirements of
their permit for their facil-
ity. According to DEQ sci-
entists, the facility failed to
collect monitoring data for
iron discharge in the 2015-
2016 monitoring period.
They are required to sam-
ple and monitor storm water
to ensure discharges meet
the benchmarks set forth
in their permit. (To make
everything work as planned,
the system that protects
water quality in Oregon is
highly dependent upon per-
mit-holders complying with
Jeff Jones
Principal Broker
541-480-7201
jeffjoneslcl@
gmail.com
31
PHOTO PROVIDED
DEQ scientist taking water samples.
the monitoring requirements
of the permits.)
Without consistent and
accurate data, DEQ and
the public can’t determine
whether permit-holders
are complying with pollut-
ant limits. To make it even
worse, having a limit to
how much pollutants can be
legally discharged into our
environment is already a
serious risk, no matter how
you look at it.
That, from a scientific
viewpoint of unwanted med-
ications, drugs, and required
environmental monitor-
ing is why it is so vital to
pubic safety that there is an
agency set up to collect and
destroy chemicals and medi-
cations for public health.
Our tax money going to a
place that protect us from
ourselves…
Superior
Escrow
Execution
Ultimate
Service
Stop by and visit with Tiana Van Landuyt & Shelley Marsh.
220 S. Pine St., Ste. 102 | 541-548-9180
THIS WEEK’S FEATURED PROPERTY
Doug Roberts
Principal Broker
541-280-6199
dougrobertsMPS
@gmail.com
Lana Labuda
Principal Broker
541-408-4144
lana@sisters
properties.com
Ellen Wood
Broker
541-588-0033
woode51@
msn.com
Katie Cam
Broker
971-409-0177
katiercam@
gmail.com
1 17010
7 0 1 0 Royal
R l Coachman
C h
Drive,
D i Sisters
S i t ~ $814,900
$ 8 1 4 9 0 0
Beautiful, custom home on .78 acre in the gated golf community of
Aspen Lakes. Community amenities include pool, clubhouse, tennis courts,
basketball and a wonderful restaurant with views of the Three Sisters
Mountains. Charming, 2,887 sq. ft., 3-bedroom, 3-bath home is perfectly
maintained with many upgrades and special features. Propane fi replace
in greatroom. Additional space upstairs can easily be fi nished for an
additional bedroom/bathroom or bonus room. One-year home warranty.
Come in or call to learn more about this property or our other listings
290 E. Cascade Ave., Sisters
Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm | Sat 10 am-4 pm
541-588-6614
Linda Brooksby
Broker
Sisters Premier Choice for Real Estate
541-977-4488
lindabrooksbylcl
VIEW ALL OUR LISTINGS AT METOLIUSPROPERTYSALES.COM
@gmail.com
Suzanne Carvlin
Broker
541-595-8707
Suzanne@Home
InSisters.com
Kimberly Gorayeb
Principal Broker
541-639-5551
kiminsisters
@gmail.com
Dechen Dawkins
Broker
541-241-6619
soldonsisters
@gmail.com
e
Wher er
m
custo vice
ser fi rst!
o
c mes