In the Media

Officials from local government and the private sector recently teamed up to hire someone who they hope can find a solution to the long-standing sedimentation problem in Bend’s Mirror Pond.

A U.S. Forest Service plan to create a central Oregon wetland from the Deschutes River has drawn protests from local irrigation districts who say the project will suck off water from irrigators downstream.

It’s no surprise, really: The Bend community remains mired in the muck over how to pay for the dredging of Mirror Pond (“Fixing Mirror Pond demands a new look, officials say,” The Bulletin, Dec. 26).

The Environmental Protection Agency is suggesting that water utilities nationwide test their drinking water for hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen, after an independent survey released earlier this week found the chemical in tap water drawn from 31 cities, including Bend.

When the report came out last week that Bend’s tap water contained a carcinogen, city officials were scrambling.

When voters elect city councilors, they expect them to make decisions that are in the best interests of all residents now and well into the future.

Despite a slew of complaints about the idea, the U.S. Forest Service continues to plan to re-create a wetland on the Deschutes River south of Bend.

Representatives of the Avion Water Co. say they’re concerned about a new study that found potentially dangerous levels of a cancer-causing compound in its water but are not yet convinced the research is scientifically sound.

The Bulletin’s put-down of wilderness status for the lower Whychus and Deschutes junction was predictable. If any environmentalist or environmentalist group proposes something, it will almost certainly be opposed by your paper.