Two years after Crook County residents first reported tap water that looked like mud, mysterious livestock deaths and plumbing nightmares, they are threatening to sue state and local governments for letting a gravel mine continue operating in their rural neighborhood near Prineville.
More than 30 people who live around a Knife River mine were listed as potential plaintiffs in tort claim notices delivered to the Oregon Department of Justice and Crook County officials Wednesday.
Tawndy Byrd lives immediately downhill from the Knife River mine, and she wants to know what happened to her well water before the mining company digs any more pits.
“Last week I went to take a bath and my water came out dark gray-green with a bunch of chunks,” Byrd told OPB. “I filled the tub three different times just thinking, ‘Geez, it will eventually clear out.’ But it didn’t.”
Crook County Farmer Dick Zimmerlee displays two bottles of water taken from his toilet tank in Crook County, Oregon on May 1, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
The residents’ tort claims allege state and local officials failed to fully investigate the potential impacts of gravel mining on groundwater that serves as their drinking water supply.
A 2023 OPB investigation found state mining regulators swiftly dismissed the complaints of tainted wells and ignored possible permit violations by Knife River.
The multi-billion dollar construction materials company has maintained it’s not to blame for elevated levels of manganese found in water samples tested by residents living near its mine.
Studies have linked exposure to varying levels of manganese in drinking water with poorer memory, attention and motor skills in children, as well as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. At lower levels, manganese can cause appliances to break down, leave stains, or make the water taste bad.
Despite growing concern over manganese, federal clean water laws don’t apply to it, and private wells aren’t regulated at all.
But, state rules do prohibit mining sites from degrading groundwater.
Facing renewed public pressure this week, The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said it’s “committed to ongoing coordination with partner agencies and Crook County to develop a monitoring plan,” according to agency spokesperson Lauren Wirtis.
The plan to make a plan was announced in response to a March 20 letter Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent the agency, stating: “Swift action is needed to support this community, to get answers to their serious concerns and protect community health.”
Wirtis said in a statement DEQ “shares the senators’ concerns,” and plans to hold a community meeting, likely this spring.
“Oregon Health Authority and DEQ are working to determine the details of a groundwater monitoring plan, including locations, analytes, how long the monitoring will occur, etc. The first round of sampling could occur approximately two months after the community meeting, assuming funding becomes available and we can hire a contractor to do the fieldwork,” she said.
DEQ and OHA’s planned analysis would not be the first time an Oregon regulator has taken a look at Knife River’s operations. Oregon’s primary mining regulator dismissed residents’ complaints in 2022. The Department of Geology and Mineral Industries concluded mining was not to blame.
But, neither the residents nor Merkley were convinced.
“I know from my time in the state legislature that DOGAMI is basically often an advocate for mining,” he told OPB last year.
In June 2023, Merkley and Wyden sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking it to get involved, but the agency declined.
“The EPA’s drinking water oversight authority is limited in this case because private wells are not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act,” Regional Administrator Casey Sixkiller wrote to the senators in June 2023.
Officials with DEQ and DOGAMI have said in the past that the water problems in Crook County are likely caused by the region’s natural geology, and drought conditions triggering chemical reactions.
Knife River spokesperson Jay Frank said his company “welcomes participation from the DEQ in the ongoing groundwater testing in the Prineville area.”
“Our operations are compliant and fully permitted, with water sampling and testing repeatedly confirming our operations have had no impacts on water quality,” Frank said. “Crook County’s geology is well known to feature elevated levels of many minerals, including manganese. We hope the continued interest in the area’s groundwater helps improve public understanding of the county’s unique geology.”
Knife River VP South Central Division Chris Doan tours the Woodward pit near Prineville on April 12, 2023. Knife River is seeking to expand on to a neighboring property, known as the Vanier Expansion.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
The company operates across the West, with over 51 permits for mining sites in Oregon alone. Over the last decade, it’s been awarded nearly $57 million in Oregon contracts, mostly through the state Department of Transportation.
This week’s tort claims — filed on residents’ behalf by attorney Ed Fitch — trigger a 180-day deadline for them to file lawsuits against state and local officials, but the immediate priority, Fitch said, is to push Crook County’s local leaders to revoke a land-use permit allowing Knife River to expand its mining operation near Prineville.
“It doesn’t hurt the county at all to initiate that process. They have a legal right to do so, and we think the evidence will be compelling that they should revoke the permit,” Fitch told OPB.
A different, state permit for Knife River’s site expansion is still pending approval through DOGAMI. Agency spokesperson Alex Lopez said in an email that there are numerous steps to go in that process, including an inspection of the site and a 35-day comment period.
“We are still looking at a minimum of 2-3 months before DOGAMI can issue an amended permit,” Lopez wrote.