Everyday substances can have negative effects on the environment that few people recognize.
That was the message David Livengood of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality delivered to business leaders attending Monday's Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce noon forum. Livengood, a DEQ hazardous waste specialist, introduced project Clean UP as a focused environmental effort within the Roseburg urban growth boundary. The goal is to reduce toxins that enter the North and South Umpqua rivers from Roseburg's waste treatment facilities and communities. The DEQ, Douglas County Public Works and Health departments, Roseburg Public Works, Roseburg Urban Sanitary Authority, Operations Management International and the Umpqua Basin Watershed Council will work together through December 2002 to complete the project. Education for residents, technical assistance for businesses and a thorough effort to measure industrial and household toxin emissions will help to determine the project's success.