Recently, The Oregonian/OregonLive's editorial board asked why it took the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality so long to begin monitoring air quality after the U.S. Forest Service alerted them to elevated levels of arsenic and cadmium in several Portland neighborhoods. We believe there is an even bigger question at play: Is a bureaucratic state agency the right entity to protect Portlanders' public health? DEQ's real delay should be measured not in months, but in years.