OEC - Oregon Environmental Council
02/23/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/23/2026 23:01
Remembering an environmental champion: Walt Mintkeski
Remembering an environmental champion: Walt Mintkeski
This past month, Oregon lost a true environmental champion. Walt Mintkeski spent his career and his retirement making Oregon's water cleaner, its land more protected, and its future brighter - showing up, year after year, for the places and people he loved. His legacy lives on in the policies he helped shape and in all of us who carry this work forward.
Thank you, Walt. You will be deeply missed.
Read our profile of Walt published in OEC's Print Newsletter in December 2025
Walt Mintkeski: Engineering a Better Future for All
For decades, Walt Mintkeski has led by example, showing what it means to live your values and fight for what matters most. Few people have had a greater impact on our state's water protections.
Simply put, Walt is known for showing up.
Photo Caption: Walt Mintkeski on Findley Butte
During his career as an environmental engineer, he focused on providing communities with clean water and clean energy - two resources most essential to life. With a professional background in municipal water and wastewater systems and stormwater management, Walt has been a steady force for clean water and sustainable resource management. His charitable giving has helped OEC put into place important state policies that protect the groundwater that 70% of Oregonians depend on, particularly benefiting lower-income families relying on private wells.
Walt Mintkeski in Kiniksu National Forest
Even in retirement, he has continued to be a consistent advocate in the fight for stronger policies to protect Oregon's agricultural land, forests, water, climate, and communities.
We at OEC are proud to count Walt as a supporter since 1988. He brings the same commitment to other statewide partner organizations like the Nature Conservancy, Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Wild Salmon Center, Citizens' Climate Lobby, and Johnson Creek Watershed Council, through countless volunteer hours and financial support alike.
His years of service - in partnership with OEC and across Oregon's environmental community - will forever shape our work. Thank you, Walt, for being a champion for Oregon's environment, and for your decades of work building a healthier planet for future generations.
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With four decades of experience as an planner, legislator, and educator, Jackie Dingfelder has seen what's possible when communities work together - and in a recent interview with OEC, she emphasized the importance of state-level action. "It's not a time to throw up your hands," she says, "It's a time to double down and get involved." From 2001 to 2013, Jackie represented NE and SE Port
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Science is at the heart of all we do at OEC - and when it comes to PFAS, Dr. Jamie DeWitt's research is making a lasting impact. Jamie - a first-generation college student - has been studying PFAS for 20 years. OEC is currently collaborating with her department at Oregon State University to study PFAS exposure in everyday products. Tell me about your academic background? What led you to the work you do today?
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OEC - Oregon Environmental Council published this content on February 23, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 24, 2026 at 05:01 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]