According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), pesticides make up the largest category of persistent pollutants on a list (51 out of 140) that they released in June of this year. 

The list is part of a longer-term project that the DEQ embarked on as a result of the passing of Senate Bill 737 which required the agency to develop a list of priority persistent bioaccumulative toxics (“Priority Persistent Pollutant List”) that have a documented effect on human health, wildlife and aquatic life. 

DEQ’s next step will involve identifying the sources of the pollutants and examining ways to reduce the amount that reaches Oregon’s Waters.