A suburban clinic is on track to receive some upgrades next spring.

The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners last week approved plans to upgrade the Rockwood Community Health Center. Medical, dental and pharmacy services are provided at the facility, which is located at 2020 S.E. 182nd Ave. in Gresham.

Multnomah County purchased the Rockwood facility from Care Access LLC (CareOregon) for $1 million in 2023. The county previously rented the facility.

Scott Edwards Architecture designed the building improvements for the county.

A general contractor will be selected through a bid process. Bids are due by Oct. 21, Multnomah County spokesperson Sarah Dean stated in an email.

The project scope includes renovating the entrance and clinic lobby; replacing the roof, the rooftop heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system units; building a small addition for a new electrical room; upgrading the electrical service; installing an emergency generator; completing other building system improvements; and applying interior finishes. The work will also involve adding electric vehicle charging stations.

The lobby will have a window wall to add more light into the space, Multnomah County project manager Brett Taute said.

The $6.8 million project is fully funded, mostly by the county. However, a $1.97 million federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant is helping pay the cost.

Initially crews will focus on performing site work and constructing the electrical room addition. Then the facility will close temporarily next year from April through September. During that time the team will renovate the entrance and lobby, tackle roofing upgrades, and perform heating/cooling and electrical work. Most of the clinic’s staff and programming will move temporarily to two different buildings – the Multnomah County East building at 600 N.E. Eighth St. and the Mid County Health Center at 12710 S.E. Division St.

Construction during the remainder of the project will take place by closing only portions of the building.

Active construction is expected to take 12 to 14 months, according to the staff report.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it is eliminating its research and development arm and reducing agency staff by thousands of employees.

The agency’s Office of Research and Development has long provided the scientific underpinnings for EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. The EPA said in May it would  to program offices that focus on major issues like air and water.

The agency said Friday it is creating a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions that will allow it to focus on research and science “more than ever before.”

Once fully implemented, the changes will save the EPA nearly $750 million, officials said.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement that the changes announced Friday would ensure the agency “is better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment, while Powering the Great American Comeback.”

The EPA also said it is beginning the process to eliminate thousands of jobs, following a  last week that cleared the way for President  plans to downsize the federal workforce, despite warnings that critical government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs.

Total staffing at EPA will go down to 12,448, a reduction of more than 3,700 employees, or nearly 23%, from staffing levels in January when Trump took office, the agency said.

“This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars,” Zeldin said, using a government term for mass firings.

‘Heart and brain of EPA’

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House Science Committee, called the elimination of the research office “a travesty.”

“T��� Trump administration is firing hardworking scientists while employing political appointees whose job it is to lie incessantly to Congress and to the American people,” she said. “T��� obliteration of ORD will have generational impacts on Americans’ health and safety.”

The Office of Research and Development “is the heart and brain of the EPA,” said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents thousands of EPA employees.

“Without it, we don’t have the means to assess impacts upon human health and the environment,” Chen said. “Its destruction will devastate public health in our country.”

The research office — EPA’s main science arm — currently has 1,540 positions, excluding special government employees and public health officers, according to  reviewed by Democratic staff on the House science panel earlier this year. As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists could be laid off, the documents indicated.

The research office has 10 facilities across the country, stretching from Florida and North Carolina to Oregon. An EPA spokeswoman said Friday that all laboratory functions currently conducted by the research office will continue.

In addition to the reduction in force, or RIF, the agency also is offering the third round of deferred resignations for eligible employees, including research office staff, spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said. The application period is open until July 25.

‘Declaration of dissent’

The EPA’s announcement comes two weeks after the agency  who signed a “declaration of dissent” with agency policies under the Trump administration. The agency accused the employees of “unlawfully undermining” Trump’s agenda.

In a letter made public June 30, the employees wrote that the EPA is  to protect human health and the environment. The letter represented rare public criticism from agency employees who knew they could face retaliation for speaking out.

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Project name: La Pine Water and Wastewater Systems Improvements (WWSI) Project

Location: La Pine

Completion: December 2024

Cost: $43,677,522

Owner/Developer: City of La Pine

Engineers: Anderson Perry & Associates, ELECTRO Tech Engineering

General Contractor: Taylor Northwest

Submitting Company: Taylor Northwest

Other Key Participants: BNSF, Bureau of Land Management, Business Oregon, McKenzie Cascade, Midstate Electric Cooperative, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, State Historic Preservation Office, The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, U.S. Forest Service, USDA Rural Development

Subcontractors: Abbas Pump, Anderson Erosion Control, Camp Creek Electric, Cascade Civil, McKenzie Cascade, Mike’s Fence, On The Fly Plumbing, Stadeli Boring & Tunneling, T Bailey, Tri County Paving

After nearly a decade of planning and construction, the city of La Pine has completed its largest infrastructure improvement project to date, addressing long-standing public health and environmental challenges.

The ambitious project replaced hundreds of aging septic systems with a centralized sewer system and modernized drinking water infrastructure across the community, where groundwater studies had revealed dangerous nitrate levels in residential wells. Without intervention, the problem would only worsen, threatening not only public health but also the long-term viability of the city’s drinking water supply.

The multifaceted initiative, completed through partnerships with Anderson Perry & Associates and Taylor Northwest, resulted in nearly 300 properties connecting to municipal sewer and water systems.

The project included three major components: improvements to the existing wastewater treatment facility with a new 20-acre effluent storage lagoon; construction of a 500,000-gallon welded steel water storage reservoir with upgraded well pump stations; and installation of extensive water and sewer lines in the Cagle and Glenwood Acres neighborhoods.

Project teams overcame significant challenges during implementation. When construction bids exceeded the original budget based on five-year-old estimates, Taylor Northwest agreed to extend their bid validity period while the U.S. Department of Agriculture reviewed additional funding requests.

Crews also maintained flexibility when cultural artifacts were discovered during excavation, implementing contingency plans to continue work in other areas while artifacts were recovered, keeping the project on schedule.

The flat topography of the La Pine area presented additional challenges, requiring special attention to proper grading to prevent future operational issues.

In total, workers installed approximately 110,000 linear feet of water lines, 289 water meters, 126 fire hydrants, and 100,000 linear feet of sewer lines. They also decommissioned 264 septic tanks and constructed four new wastewater lift stations.

Beyond addressing immediate health concerns, the infrastructure improvements unlock new economic opportunities for La Pine by removing barriers to development that previously existed due to wastewater system limitations.

The project received funding coordination through multiple agencies including USDA Rural Development, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Business Oregon.

The project manager and Taylor Northwest team were actively engaged in safety on the site, resulting in zero injuries. TNW worked closely with the Bend-La Pine School District and the fire department regarding the construction schedule, road closures and area access. Extra attention also was placed on working safely around the BNSF railroad.

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DIAMOND BAR, Calif. — Air quality regulators in Southern California earlier this month voted 7 to 5 to reject proposed rules that would have curbed harmful emissions from gas-powered furnaces and water heaters. But the majority voted to send the rules back to the committee to be changed and reconsidered.

The proposal aimed to reduce emissions of smog-contributing nitrogen oxides, also called NOx. They are a group of pollutants linked to respiratory issues, asthma attacks, worse allergies, decreased lung function in children, premature death and more. Burning natural gas is also one of the primary drivers of climate change.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District estimates that the proposed rules would have lowered NOx emissions from gas-fired furnaces, preventing about 2,490 premature deaths and 10,200 new asthma cases over a 26-year period in the region. The district regulates air quality for 16.8 million people in Southern California, including all of Orange County and large areas of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — one of the smoggiest areas in the U.S.

The board received more than 30,000 written comments ahead of the vote, including a letter from U.S. Attorney Bilal “Bill” Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the area, in which he threatened to sue the board if it adopted the proposed rules.

“California regulators are on notice: if you pass illegal bans or penalties on gas appliances, we’ll see you in court,” he posted Thursday on the social platform X. “T��� law is clear—feds set energy policy, not unelected climate bureaucrats.”

Before the vote, board member Janet Nguyen, who serves on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, echoed opponents’ concerns that the rules would financially burden people.

“I, like everybody here, support clean air,” she said. “T���se rules don’t target refineries or shopping ports. They target people — the 17 million homeowners, renters, seniors and small businesses.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, who supported the proposed rules, said, “If we don’t start now, when will we effect any change?”

California is moving aggressively to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels ahead of a 2045 mandate for the state to have net-zero carbon emissions. California often sets or proposes stricter environmental standards than the rest of the country, such as a bid to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

The proposed rules would have set targets aiming to phase out the sale of gas-powered furnaces and water heaters starting in 2027. It would not have applied to gas stoves. The sales target would have started at 30 percent, then grown to 50 percent in 2029 and ended at 90 percent in 2039. The rules would not have been mandated, but manufacturers would have had to pay fees ranging from $50 to $500 if they sold gas-powered appliances.

That’s a significant rollback from the original proposal, which would have required residential buildings to meet zero-emissions standards beginning in 2029 when appliances need to be replaced. The agency amended the rules after strong opposition from Southern California Gas and other businesses.

The regulations would have impacted more than 10 million appliances in an estimated 5 million buildings, most of them residential.

Officials and supporters say the proposed rules would have reduced air pollution and substantially improved public health. But opponents — including property owners, industry professionals and natural gas companies — feared potentially higher costs for consumers and businesses, and a strained power grid with more electric appliances.

During a packed June 6 board meeting that ran for five hours, board chair Vanessa Delgado thanked the more than 200 people who signed up to speak about the proposed rules, which took more than two years to craft.

“I don’t believe that there’s necessarily a good or right answer about these rules,” she said. “I believe that it is very complicated, and I know that every single one of these board members are doing what is right to move forward air quality goals in our region.”

Lynwood City Councilmember Juan Muñoz-Guevara said the rules would be a long-overdue step toward environmental justice for communities like his.

“I’ve seen firsthand how families in my community are forced to live with the health consequences of dirty air,” he said. “Our children grow up with asthma, our elders struggle with respiratory illness, and too many lives are cut short. Gas appliances in our home are one of the largest sources of smog-forming pollution in the region. We cannot meet clean air goals without tackling this.”

Peggy Huang, a member of Yorba Linda’s City Council, urged the board to reject the proposed rules.

“As someone who’s been advocating for affordable housing, this will increase costs for us to meet those goals,” she said.

Chino’s mayor pro tem, Curtis Burton, echoed some of Huang’s concerns. He said the rules would “create an additional financial burden on residents and businesses.”

Air quality regulators say the rules would save consumers money by reducing energy bills.

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The Portland Water Bureau on Friday ordered a halt to construction at the $2.1 billion Bull Run Filtration Project site after an adverse land-use ruling. It’s unclear how long construction will be paused at the site.

The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals in January remanded a decision to Multnomah County, saying the county had failed to fully consider natural resources in its decision approving construction. With the legal matter on remand, the Water Bureau on Friday paused work on the project.

“There are many unknowns at this time – including the duration of the pause – but we’ll be working with the county and LUBA to better understand the timeline and project impacts in coming days and weeks,” Water Bureau spokeswoman Felicia Heaton stated in an email Friday.

The city is up against a deadline imposed by the Oregon Health Authority to deliver filtered water to customers by Sept. 30, 2027. The construction of the plant stems from the discovery in 2017 of the parasite cryptosporidium in Portland’s water supply.

“While we respect the land use process and will fully comply with the remand, every day of delay drives up construction costs and increases the risk of missing our public health compliance deadline — challenges that directly impact our communities, businesses and ratepayers,” Priya Dhanapal, deputy city administrator for public works, stated in a news release.

Mayor Keith Wilson, in a statement Friday, said the project is “the right thing to do to protect public health.”

“We will continue to participate faithfully in the land use process and look forward to addressing the issues on remand so we can get back to building this critical project as efficiently and cost effectively as possible,” Wilson added.

The project is being built by a joint venture of water-plant specialist MWH Constructors and construction giant Kiewit Corp. in a rural area of east Multnomah County near the Clackamas County line. The joint venture broke ground on the site in June 2024.

Workers at the site on Friday received text messages saying “construction is temporarily suspended until further notice.” Non-manual staff were advised to report to work on Monday to help guide the project through its next phase.

Craft employees were told not to report to work Saturday through Tuesday.

“Some critical construction operations will continue and craft employees will be notified by their direct employer in the next few days,” a message stated.

“We are sorry for this unplanned disruption of your good work and will inform you of the next steps when given guidance by the Portland Water Bureau,” another message stated.

Project supporters are exploring another option: state legislation that would exempt the project from zoning requirements.

Senate Bill 936 would make a “public health infrastructure facility” an allowed use in any zone if the facility were to face a construction deadline from the Oregon Health Authority, Department of Environmental Quality or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would essentially strip local authorities of land use approval powers over such projects.

The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, and Sen. James Manning Jr., D-Eugene. It has been referred to the Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs Committee.

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