In this file photo from April 17, 2023, residents from Eastern Oregon and Oregon Rural Action hold a press conference demanding Gov. Tina Kotek declare a state of emergency over nitrate water contamination.
Monica Samayoa / OPB
After years of giving out bottled water and filters to Lower Umatilla Basin residents affected by the region’s nitrate crisis, authorities are starting to look into ways they can connect those residents with clean sources of drinking water.
Whether this issue will be first resolved by local government or the federal court system is an open question.
Commissioners from Umatilla and Morrow counties held a joint meeting in Hermiston Wednesday to discuss plans to find alternatives to drawing water from private wells, which are more vulnerable to nitrate contamination.
The two governments agreed to use part of a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hire a contractor to draw up the plans. A representative from GSI Water Solutions told commissioners that the company will spend the coming months conducting well tests, analyzing existing data and performing feasibility studies ahead of the creation of a drinking water action plan.
GSI says the plan would give the counties the information they needed to get these infrastructure projects funded. Potential solutions could include connecting well owners to a nearby municipal water system or digging a deeper well to access water unaffected by nitrates.
Nitrate pollution has been a known problem in northern Morrow County and western Umatilla County for decades. Nitrates — mainly from agricultural sources — penetrate the soil and seep into the groundwater that’s then drawn by wells owned by Lower Umatilla Basin residents. If consumed in high quantities, nitrate exposure has been linked to illnesses like cancer and thyroid disease.
Morrow County declared a drinking water emergency in 2022, which led to an increase in attention and high-profile visitors from around the state. One of those visitors was U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, who local leaders credit for helping them secure the federal funding to develop a drinking water plan after he toured Boardman in 2023.
The plan won’t come immediately. GSI anticipates it will complete its work in 2026.
Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran warned that some residents might be losing patience.
“The one fear I do have is that fear of replicating and triplicating and losing the ability for solutions,” he said. “If our outside people get to that frustration point, they’re not going to listen to the solution.”
Other officials warned that more obstacles lay ahead. Connecting homes to municipal water sources would require negotiating with cities, which may require these new customers to connect to their sewer systems as well. And some residents may not agree to be connected to a water system, either because they felt they weren’t at risk of nitrate contamination or because they would have to start paying a water bill.
Tamra Mabbott, the Morrow County planning director and a member of the steering committee overseeing the EPA grant, said the counties want to move quickly where they can.
She said her county is already seeking a different grant to cover the costs of engineering and designing drinking water infrastructure in areas that have already been identified as being potential water system hookups.
But overall, Mabbott said, the project’s anticipated duration is a reflection of the time it takes to put together plans and secure funding.
Mabbott said Water for Eastern Oregon has also offered its help. A nonprofit group backed by the area’s biggest agricultural businesses, Water for Eastern Oregon has previously supplied drinking water and water filters to residents and says it wants to help figure out a long-term solution to nitrate pollution.
Lower Umatilla Basin residents are also suing some of the same businesses that are behind the nonprofit for polluting their water. Should the federal lawsuit succeed, the plaintiffs want those businesses to cover the costs of connecting them to clean water sources.
Mabbott said the lawsuit shouldn’t affect the process of developing a drinking water plan, although she hopes it doesn’t mean those agricultural businesses will be less likely to participate in that effort.