Nitrate testing continues in rural Northeast Oregon

For decades, this region along the Columbia River in northeast Oregon has been struggling with elevated levels of groundwater nitrates — a colorless, odorless and tasteless compound that can pose serious health risks if consumed in excess.

West Glen has been among the most affected areas. It does not receive treated water from the city, and domestic wells have tested far above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safe drinking water standard for nitrates.

A year ago, Pearson’s own well tested 46.8 milligrams per liter for nitrates. The limit under the Safe Drinking Water Act is 10 milligrams per liter.

Even after installing a reverse osmosis filter, Pearson said his water is still registering 26.8 milligrams per liter, more than double the EPA’s limit.

Users manuals show that some filtration systems can only treat nitrates up to a certain concentration. That is why advocates argue affected households should be connected to city water, free of charge.

“I’m tired of being poisoned,” Pearson said.

Agricultural sources

Pearson, 70, has owned his home in West Glen since 1993. When he first arrived, he said the sagebrush was 6 feet tall, characteristic of the Columbia Basin’s arid climate.

Large chunks of the surrounding desert, however, have been converted into vast and fertile farms growing dozens of crops, including potatoes, corn and hay. Agriculture is a significant economic driver in Morrow County, accounting for nearly one-third of all income in 2020, according to the state Employment Department.

It is also a source of nitrates that are causing so much concern for people like Pearson.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality designated the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area, or LUBGWMA, in 1990 to address nitrate contamination.

The state Health Authority estimates 4,500 domestic wells are within the area in northern Morrow and Umatilla counties.

Research by DEQ, the state Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University Extension Service shows nitrogen-based fertilizer is the source of nearly 70% of nitrates that have leached into the groundwater. Another 12% comes from using liquid manure from dairies and other confined animal feeding operations to fertilize crops.

Eight percent comes from livestock pastures, and 3.5% is from nitrogen-rich wastewater collected from food processors at the Port of Morrow that is recycled for irrigation.

Though nitrogen is a valuable resource for farms, growers must be careful about when and how much they apply to crops. Too much, and the plants won’t be able to absorb it all, allowing it to filter down below the roots.

More testing needed

Though the LUBGWMA was established three decades ago, Pearson said he was not aware of the situation until last year, after the port was fined $2.1 million for repeatedly over-applying wastewater to farmland.

In April 2022, Oregon Rural Action and the Morrow County Health Department began going door-to-door testing wells and raising awareness.

When volunteers came to Pearson’s home, he said he initially thought it was a joke, but quickly joined the effort.

“It’s ridiculous that they’re doing this to us,” he said. “Somebody needs to be held accountable.”

Parks, the senior organizer at Oregon Rural Action, said the group has tested wells for approximately 540 households in Morrow County. Of those, 40% exceed the safe drinking water threshold for nitrates. In Boardman, the figure is 70%.

An estimated 86% of wells across the LUBGWMA remain untested.

“People need safe drinking water, immediately,” Parks said.

Jonathan Modie, a spokesman for OHA, said the agency has secured $882,000 in emergency funding from the Legislature that should cover 800 well tests and 84 treatment systems. That funding was approved for use through June.

Another $3 million is also being considered in Gov. Tina Kotek’s budget for the next two years.

“OHA recognizes the need for extensive communication, outreach and support to people in the community to access testing and subsequent treatment, and we are working with our local public health partners in Morrow and Umatilla counties and other state agencies, and community-based organizations, to develop and implement those plans,” Modie said.

EPA visit

Casey Sixkiller, regional administrator of the EPA in Seattle, is planning to visit the area sometime “in the next few weeks,” said agency spokesman Bill Dunbar.

A coalition of eight environmental groups, frustrated by the state’s lack of progress reducing nitrate contamination, petitioned the EPA in 2020 to take emergency action under Section 1431 of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Dunbar said the EPA has not ruled out such intervention, and is calling on the state to “adequately fund and implement as quickly as possible a comprehensive effort to provide safe drinking water for (residents) and reduce or eliminate nitrate contamination in underground sources of drinking water.”

Harry Esteve, spokesman for Oregon DEQ, said the agency is still working with the Port of Morrow on a settlement for the penalties issued last year.

DEQ also issued a modified permit for the port that, among other measures, requires $200 million in investments over the next four years to improve wastewater treatment systems. Starting in 2025, the port will no longer be allowed to apply the water on farms between November and February unless it is treated so nitrates do not exceed 7 milligrams per liter.