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​DEQ's mission is to be a leader in restoring, maintaining and enhancing the quality of Oregon's air, land and water.

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DEQ is 2nd in state for most public record requests

 
Every hour of every day, on average, DEQ receives a public records request. In 2018, the agency received a total of 4,635 separate requests for data, emails, reports and other documents – making it second only to the Oregon State Police for volume of requests among state agencies.
 
On the receiving end are Leela Yellesetty, public records officer, and Kristen Mercer, public records coordinator, whose job is to ensure a timely response, whether the request comes from a news reporter, a member of the public or anyone else with an interest in DEQ’s work.
 
“One of the things I love about working in public records is getting to see all the diverse and important work taking place across the agency,” says Yellesetty. “It’s impressive.”
 

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Oregon DEQ's low-cost air 
quality SensOR™

Oregon DEQ's low-cost air quality SensOR™

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A new lower-cost air quality monitor developed by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's laboratory will allow the agency to provide timely particulate pollution information at more locations throughout the state. Already, eight of the devices, called the SensOR, have been placed at new Air Quality Index sites in Bend, Brookings, Chiloquin, Coos Bay, Florence, Forest Grove, northeast Portland and Redmond.

In 2017, the Oregon Legislature funded an additional 30 monitoring sites for DEQ’s AQI, an interactive website that allows the public to check local conditions. Over the last year, DEQ lab staff has developed an innovative design, which uses a light sensor to measure particulate matter that is less than 2.5 microns in diameter or approximately one-twenty-fifth the size of a human hair. The scientists spent several months calibrating the SensORs to their more expensive reference instruments to ensure the AQI is accurate and reliable.