The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently sent a warning letter to the city of Albany for failing to staff its wastewater treatment plant with qualified personnel while the plant superintendent was elk hunting. DEQ discovered the violation during an Oct. 17 inspection of the plant. DEQ’s warning letter notes that “[t]rained and certified operators are necessary to ensure that the systems are managed in a manner that fully protects public health and the environment” and notes the increased risk of system failure, and resulting water quality and health hazards, in the event of staffing violations like the one observed at the Albany treatment plant.

Doug Quirke/Oregon Clean Water Action Project