The City of Albany has received the draft of a new permit to discharge treated wastewater, but the proposal ignores the problems with Talking Water Gardens, the $13 million treatment system that the city was forced to shut down.
The proposed permit has not been made public. But Dylan Darling, a public affairs specialist with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, told me:
“The draft proposed permit does not authorize discharge to or from Albany’s Talking Water Gardens. DEQ action related to the Talking Water Gardens is addressed in Mutual Agreement and Order WQ M-WR-2018-274, which resulted in discharge to the Talking Water Gardens ceasing on Nov. 27, 2024.”…