Tag Archives: State Regulators

Lower Umatilla Basin defendants look to quash nitrate pollution lawsuit

Attorneys for the local agriculture industry say the issue shouldn’t be resolved in federal court. A lawsuit has put the Lower Umatilla Basin’s largest agricultural players in the position of defending Oregon’s regulators. Four months after a group of basin residents filed a lawsuit alleging that five members of the local agricultural industry were polluting […]
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Merkley wants Oregon to probe source of tainted wells

Dick Zimmerlee spent decades as a rancher, farmer and agriculture consultant. But each day he spends studying the soils and groundwater on his Prineville ranch, trying to find out why black sludge started clogging pipes and settling in his toilet, his knowledge becomes more akin to an amateur geologist. “We’ve become students of this whole […]
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Oregon patients needed fentanyl but got tap water — and it went unchecked for nearly two years

Poor data and coordination between regulatory agencies contribute to hospital drug thefts, experts say. The news out of Medford, Oregon, in December 2023 was explosive: A nurse in the intensive care unit of a local hospital had reportedly stolen patients’ intravenous fentanyl and replaced it with unsterile tap water for months. Dozens of patients developed […]
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Oregon irrigation modernization recommendations raise timing concerns

A team of experts has recommended Oregon water regulators spend $13.5 million in their initial phase of distributing $50 million allocated by lawmakers for irrigation modernization projects. The relatively modest amount and the sizable proportion of projects not recommended for funding have raised concerns about whether some irrigation districts will be able to meet federal […]
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Oregon PUC seeks comment on PGE proposed rate increase

Portland General Electric customers can tell Oregon utility regulators Thursday night what they think about the company’s already hotly contested proposed 2025 rate increase. The proposal by the state’s largest electric utility has drawn attention less for its size — a 7.4% overall average increase — than for its timing: PGE filed the general rate […]
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Oregon Supreme Court says state regulators can overrule local laws on energy projects

The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed that state energy regulators can approve projects that don’t conform with local restrictions. The April ruling came in Umatilla County’s challenge to the Energy Facility Siting Council’s approval last year of a project that would put wind turbines within 2 miles of residences, which a county ordinance prohibits. Request full-text […]
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Oregon seeks dismissal of small dairy CAFO lawsuit

Oregon farm regulators claim a lawsuit challenging their stricter enforcement of wastewater rules against small dairies is moot since the policy has been rescinded. If withdrawing the policy hasn’t resolved the legal dispute, however, the state Department of Agriculture argues the case should still be dismissed because it was trying to prevent water pollution. Source: […]
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Oregon regulators missed ‘red flags’ leading to senior’s death in Sandy care facility, ombudsman says

After an elderly resident with dementia living at Mt. Hood Senior Living in Sandy, Oregon, was found dead, state Department of Human Services officials should have immediately acted to ensure the remaining residents were safe. That did not happen. Ki Soon “Harmony” Hyun, who had dementia, died after she wandered away from the facility in […]
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OHSU-Legacy merger plan still hasn’t appeared, raising questions

One hundred days and counting. When they announced their bombshell plan to merge last August, leaders at Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Health said they would present their definitive merger plan to state regulators by Dec. 3. Request full-text (for State Agency patrons only) Source: OHSU-Legacy merger plan still hasn’t appeared, raising questions […]
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Corvallis Clinic Takeover, State Might Skip Regulatory Review

Optum Health is seeking to skip regulatory review of its bid to takeover The Corvallis Clinic. The request for an emergency exemption was filed on Friday, Mar. 8, and it argues that “The transaction is urgently necessary to maintain the solvency of The Corvallis Clinic.” The filing was submitted by Jonathan L. French and Darius […]
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