The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently sent the owners of Knoll Terrace (located north of Corvallis) a pre-enforcement notice following an April inspection during which “non-disinfected effluent” from the manufactured home community’s sewage treatment facility was discharging to Mountain View Creek. DEQ was unable to determine the total amount of effluent discharged to the creek because there was no documentation of how long the discharge had been occurring. DEQ estimated that the effluent likely contained E. coli at levels almost 8,000 times the amount that is legally allowed. DEQ has referred the matter to its Office of Compliance & Enforcement for further action concerning the illegal discharges, as well as monitoring and reporting violations and “improper operation and maintenance of pollution controls.”— Doug Quirke/Oregon Clean Water Action Project