More Coverage

Water worries: Farmers, regulators struggle to address nitrate contamination

Modified permit requires Port of Morrow to spend $200M on water quality controls

Oregon counties receive $1.7M to address nitrate contamination

{related_content_uuid}a3ac70df-7105-4bf3-b782-29e90db395bf{/related_content_uuid}

BOARDMAN, Ore. — The Port of Morrow in northeast Oregon has reached a settlement with the state Department of Environmental Quality for permit violations that sparked concerns over high levels of nitrates in the region’s groundwater.

Under the agreement, the port will pay $2.4 million in fines, of which $1.9 million will go to the Oregon Health Authority to provide safe drinking water for residents.

DEQ initially fined the port $1.3 million last year for excessively spraying wastewater from 17 businesses at its Boardman industrial park — including food processors, storage facilities, data centers and a natural gas co-generation plant — on nearby farmland.

The fine was later raised to $2.1 million after regulators found additional violations.

Nitrate problems

The port has a permit with DEQ to recycle nitrogen-rich wastewater for farms growing potatoes, onions, corn and other crops. However, DEQ discovered the port had over-applied wastewater more than 1,000 times between 2018 and 2021, leaving 165 tons of excess nitrogen in the soil.

Plants can only absorb so much of the nutrient before it potentially leaches down into groundwater. Combined with oxygen, nitrogen becomes nitrate, a colorless, odorless and tasteless compound that can be harmful if consumed at high levels, particularly for infants and pregnant women.

The port’s violations occurred within an area already plagued by nitrate contamination, known as the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area, or LUBGWMA, straddling parts of northern Umatilla and Morrow counties.

The state recently partnered with several community organizations to test 1,001 out of 3,291 affected wells in the area. Nearly one-quarter of those tests revealed nitrate levels measuring above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safe drinking water limit of 10 milligrams per liter.

Oregon law allows up to 80% of fines issued by DEQ to go toward approved projects. In this case, the majority of the port’s fine will support well testing and delivery of clean drinking water to residents whose wells measure over the EPA nitrate threshold.

“The port has promised to be a community partner in solving this regional problem,” said Joe Taylor, president of the port commission. “With DEQ’s agreement, the community will be the beneficiary from a large portion of our fine.”

Leah Feldon, DEQ director, said the settlement serves two purposes.

“It provides funding for safe drinking water to those who need it, and it holds the Port of Morrow accountable for permit violations,” Feldon said.

Modified permit

The port has already agreed to a modified permit with DEQ that will require major upgrades over the next four years to better treat and store wastewater.

Starting in November 2025, the port can no longer apply the water on farms between November and February unless it is treated so nitrogen concentration does not exceed 7 milligrams per liter, or 70% of the EPA’s safe drinking water limit.

The port is pursuing a $432 million federal loan to build three new anaerobic digesters to treat wastewater, while also expanding storage and land application capacity. Funding would also pay for cleaning existing wastewater ponds and building secondary treatment systems to reduce nitrogen levels in wastewater, such as oxidation ditches.

”We appreciate the problem-solving approach by DEQ to this longstanding regional issue,” said Lisa Mittelsdorf, the port’s executive director. “While the port’s contribution to the overall problem is relatively small, it’s important for the port to be an active partner in a regional solution.”

Other provisions of the settlement include:

• Higher penalties for applying wastewater in winter months to agricultural fields near drinking water supplies.

• No increases in net wastewater flow until new treatment and storage systems are fully operational.

• Requirements to assess existing infrastructure for leaks by 2024.

Kristin Anderson Ostrom, director of Oregon Rural Action, a La Grande-based nonprofit that has advocated for residents with contaminated wells, said she hopes the settlement will be enough to prevent future pollution in the LUBGWMA.

”This is a start to hold polluters in the region accountable,” she said. “Given the area’s historic and ongoing risk to rural people, the community’s concern is stopping the ongoing pollution of our groundwater and drinking water, and returning nitrate levels to 7 milligrams per liter as required by state law.”

Water worries: Farmers, regulators struggle to address nitrate contamination

Modified permit requires Port of Morrow to spend $200M on water quality controls

Oregon counties receive $1.7M to address nitrate contamination