Clean Water Services CEO resigns

Taniguchi-Dennis' resignation follows an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive into the agency's use of luxury resorts for annual business trips to Hawaii.

Clean Water Services CEO resigns
Clean Water Services' logo on a canopy at Balm Grove in Gales Creek. File photo: Chas Hundley

 The CEO of Clean Water Services, the county's sewer agency, resigned Wednesday.
 
Diane Taniguchi-Dennis, CEO of Clean Water Services, announced her resignation to the Clean Water Services Board of Directors on Wednesday, according to a Thursday press release from Washington County.

The board consists of the Washington County Board of Commissioners.

Her resignation will be effective June 6.

Taniguchi-Dennis' resignation follows an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive into the agency's use of luxury resorts for annual business trips to Hawaii.

The investigation also revealed that Clean Water Services staff spent $440,000 over five years on local and travel meals—four times the amount spent by similar agencies in Clackamas and Multnomah counties.

Clean Water Services provides sewer and sanitary services to most of urban Washington County, including Forest Grove.

In Gales Creek, the agency owns the Balm Grove property and led the removal of the Balm Grove Dam in 2022.