Oregon Senate Acts to Protect Water Quality

Your dish soap could soon become greener. The Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 631 today on a 26-2 (Kruse, Whitsett) vote. It now heads to the House.

Senate Bill 631 would ban phosphorus from automatic dishwashing soap, except for commercial dishwashers. This bill closes a big loophole that was allowed in the 1991 phosphorus ban that removed phosphorus from laundry soap. Excessive phosphorous seriously impacts the water quality of many water bodies in Oregon causing algae blooms and fish death.

When introduced to surface or ground water, phosphorus increases algae growth which in turn can reduce oxygen levels and kill aquatic life. This has caused major algae blooms on lakes in Oregon, including Woahink and Siltcoos Lake on the south coast. In 2007 the community between those lakes, Dunes City, passed an ordinance designed to reduce phosphorus deposits.  

This ban will help clean up waters and save on the cost of waste water treatment. The bill was amended to bring the implementation date in line with fourteen other states proposing similar bans.

 Thanks go to the bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Jackie Dingfelder, and to cosponsors Sen. Suzanne Bonamici and Rep. Jules Bailey.