Environmental Health Services
The staff of Environmental Health Services conduct programs designed to control the factors that are responsible for the spread of disease through food, water, and other environmental exposures. Although many of our services benefit all residents of Linn County, most of our services are funded by license fees, permit fees, and other user fees. Our main program services include:
Food, Pool, and Lodging
ANNOUNCEMENT: We now offer ONLINE
Food Handler Training
through a partnership with Lane County. A permit issued from this
website is valid for 3 years in every Oregon County. The fee is $10 and
you can return to the website anytime to print duplicate cards at no
additional cost. For information about facility based food handler
training, follow the Food, Pool, and Lodging link above. We are discontinuing the Albany testing site effective June 1, 2010.
Our primary responsibilities in the Food, Pool, and Lodging program are
to license and inspect facilities used by the general public to ensure
that they are safe and sanitary. When these facilities are constructed,
operated, and maintained according to the statewide standards and rules
we administer, the risk of disease transmission is low. The kinds of
facilities we license and inspect include:
- Restaurants and catering operations
- Commissary, vending, warehouse and mobile food units
- Temporary restaurants and farmer’s markets
- Hotels, motels, bed and breakfast, including both lodging and food service operations
- RV parks
- Public swimming pools and spas
- Organizational camps
Onsite Wastewater Management (Septic Systems)
We
administer statewide rules to prevent the contamination of groundwater
and surface water, eliminate surface discharges of sewage, and ensure
proper installation, operation and maintenance of installed systems.
Properly sited, designed, constructed, and maintained septic systems
give many years of safe, trouble free service.
We provide site approvals, plan reviews, permits and inspections for
new systems and changes in use of existing systems. Uses include
residential, commercial, and public facilities. We also provide
information and technical assistance to contractors, installers and the
general public.
Safe Drinking Water
We ensure that public water systems in Linn County consistently comply with the requirements of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. These requirements include regular monitoring and reporting of drinking water quality, assuring proper operation and maintenance of systems, training and certification of operators, and providing public notices of any changes in drinking water quality. The funding for this program comes from a combination of federal grant dollars, State general funds, and user fees for sanitary surveys. Our services include:
- Sanitary surveys of public water systems
- Ensuring that water systems monitor water quality and report results in a timely manner
- Technical assistance to public water system operators
- Access to financial and engineering resources for water system improvements
- Operator training
- Source water protection
If your drinking water comes from your own individual, domestic (private) well, please visit the OSU Well Water Program website for more information. This program is provided by OSU Extension Service.
Solid Waste and Recycling
We manage solid waste collection and disposal franchises for rural
Linn County. Any proposed change to service or rates must first be
considered by the Linn County Solid Waste Advisory Committee at a
public meeting. The Committee is charged with fact finding,
deliberating the proposals and making recommendations to the Linn
County Board of Commissioners. The Committee includes representatives
of Albany, Lebanon, Sweet Home, one additional city, and three members
of the general public.
The Committee also considers matters of common interest to cities and
the County such as solid waste management planning. Examples include
the annual determination of countywide recycling rates and the recent
development of a household hazardous waste management plan. Revenues
from franchise fees support staffing for the Committee and abatement of
solid waste and nuisance violations in rural Linn County.
Community Health and Disease Prevention
Our Community Health and Disease Prevention efforts typically benefit all Linn County residents. Most of these services do not receive direct support from user fees. Some examples of these services include:
- Communicable disease surveillance and outbreak investigations
- Enforcement of public health laws
- Services to low and moderate income families for housing rehabilitation
- Contract inspections for School Food Service Programs and certification inspections for Day Care and Pre-School operations
- Quarantine and rabies testing for animal bite exposures
- Response to environmental and health related hazards
- Information and referral