OREGON
Thursday, January 13, 2022
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EO Media Group, File
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality alleges the Port of Morrow has applied excessive
amounts of nitrate-containing water to area farmland.
Doddsy from EOAlive lost 40 pounds so far
Oregon DEQ fines Port of Morrow
$1.3 million for nitrate violations
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
BOARDMAN —
Oregon environmental
regulators have fined the
Port of Morrow $1.3 mil-
lion for repeatedly over-ap-
plying agricultural waste-
water on nearby farms in
an area that already has ele-
vated levels of groundwater
nitrates.
The state Department
of Environmental Quality
announced the fine on
Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Under a DEQ water
quality permit, the port col-
lects nitrogen-rich waste-
water from food proces-
sors, storage facilities and
data centers at its indus-
trial parks near Boardman,
which it then reuses to
irrigate neighboring farm
fields growing potatoes,
onions and other high-value
crops.
But according to the
agency, the port violated
its permit more than 1,000
times from 2018 to 2021,
exceeding the limit on
how much nitrogen can be
safely applied to farmland
and resulting in 165 tons
of excess nitrogen in the
fields.
Leah Feldon, DEQ
deputy director, said these
are “serious violations of
water quality regulations
that are in place to pro-
tect public health and the
environment.”
The Port of Morrow is
Oregon’s second-largest
port, behind only the Port
of Portland. It is in the
Umatilla Basin of north-
east Oregon, where in
1990 the state declared a
Groundwater Management
Area due to high levels
of groundwater nitrates
exceeding 7 milligrams per
liter.
High levels of nitrates
in drinking water is
linked with serious
health concerns, particu-
larly for babies and preg-
nant women. Ground-
water is used as a primary
source of drinking water
across the basin, which
spans northern Uma-
tilla and Morrow coun-
ties — including the cities
of Hermiston, Boardman,
Irrigon, Stanfield and Echo.
Historically, the sources
of groundwater contamina-
tion in the Lower Umatilla
Basin Groundwater Man-
agement Area are fertilizer
used on irrigated farmland,
confined animal feeding
operations, livestock pas-
tures, food processing
wastewater and septic sys-
tems, according to DEQ’s
press release.
“The existing nitrate
contamination in the
basin’s groundwater means
everyone in the region has
to do their part to reduce
this contamination,” Feldon
said. The Port of Morrow
has not been doing its part,
and DEQ looks forward to
working together to correct
these violations and protect
our aquifers from future
contamination.”
DEQ also alleges the
port failed to monitor
nitrogen at application sites
on 121 separate occasions
each year from 2018-2020.
Ryan Neal, the port’s
general manager, could not
immediately be reached
for comment. It remains
unclear whether the port
will appeal the fine.
, MBA
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