OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
A4
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
OUR VIEW
The next steps
for addressing
nitrate problems
T
he existence of nitrates in groundwater is common in many
parts of the world. It’s when the concentration exceeds the
level considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy that there’s a problem.
Nitrates can occur naturally or they can come from over-apply-
ing nitrogen fertilizers, wastewater, manure and other sources of
nitrogen. Crops greatly benefi t from the boost nitrogen provides,
but they can take up only so much. After that, the nitrogen can
travel downward through the soil until reaches groundwater. There
it lingers as nitrates. Nitrates found today in groundwater can be
from fertilizer that was overapplied decades ago — called a “legacy
pollutant.”
Too much nitrate in drinking water can lead to cancer, thyroid
problems, miscarriages, respiratory infections and “blue baby syn-
drome,” in which a child has diffi culty taking in oxygen.
Where there’s a problem, there also needs to be a game plan for
solving it.
First, there needs to be monitoring to determine the scope. In
many parts of the country, landowners test their well water annually
to determine nitrate levels and any trends. That is a good practice
for anyone with a well.
Then, reverse osmosis or ion exchange fi lters need to be installed
as a stopgap wherever the nitrate concentration exceeds healthful
levels. Water can also be distilled, a simple and low-cost method of
ridding it of nitrates.
Scientists also need to pin down the sources of nitrates. Often,
several sources are responsible.
Then comes the hard part. Researchers need to look for eff ec-
tive, aff ordable and doable means of reducing nitrate levels in the
groundwater and preventing more nitrates from getting into it.
That is where the folks in the area surrounding Boardman are.
They know there’s a problem in parts of the region. They know the
sources of the nitrates.
And they’re more than willing to do what they can to address it,
but no game plan is in place to provide farmers and food processors
with best practices. They also need to determine the best and most
cost-eff ective means of reducing nitrate levels in the groundwater.
“To date, there’s been a ton of time and resources spent pointing
the fi nger at whose fault this is,” said J.R. Cook, founder and direc-
tor of the Northeast Oregon Water Association. “We’re all at fault.
Now, what’s the solution?”
It’s been 32 years since the Oregon Department of Environ-
mental Quality designated the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwa-
ter Management Area. About 44% of the test wells in the area have
nitrate levels higher than the EPA limit of 10 milligrams per liter.
Some are more than six times the limit.
The time has come to determine what other parts of the world
have done to address nitrate problems and how successful they
were. Surely, researchers have come up with a way to address this
problem.
Then they need to act.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
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John Day, Oregon
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OFF THE BEATEN PATH
On feeding hungry hunters
W
hen I was a child, my
father loved to hunt — pri-
marily pheasants. He and
a friend would head out on a pleas-
ant morning, shotguns in hand, dogs
in tow. Dad’s friend owned a sweet lit-
tle cocker spaniel trained to fetch game
birds. Our family claimed Sport, a mutt
with questionable parentage and a set-
ter-like build who could have been
named Doofus or Dweeb — the dog
likable, inept, and a goof-off .
Our end of the county seemed to be
ground zero for pheasant fertility, with
pheasants thick in the brush. With the
fl at hunting area, and plentiful pheas-
ants, we could hear them squawking
from our backyard. A hunter challenge:
be patient enough to drive a short dis-
tance to legal hunting ground as per
regs for the hunting license.
One fall day, Dad polished off a
bowl of cold cereal, then headed out
with his hunting buddy. The hunters
returned before lunchtime with a nice
harvest of ring-necked pheasants. Hun-
gry hunters? Not really. Dad tinkered at
his workbench before Mom served up
his noon sandwich.
Years later, the hunting party com-
position changed. “Big game” hunt-
ing (deer) became the goal for a family
member, Pete, and his novice cousin,
Irvine. The area, long on pheasants
but short on deer, meant a long drive
to hunting grounds. The two planned
a deer hunt that would last most of a
day, counting travel time. From what
I heard, this hunting
trip would include
climbing moun-
tains so high hunt-
ers could expect their
ears to bleed, and
fording rivers so cold
Jean Moultrie and treacherous that
icicles would hang
from their rifl e scopes and turkey buz-
zards would circle overhead.
Since I wasn’t up on the nuances
of feeding “big game” hunters, I lis-
tened in as the Ratwurst boys, jokers
from the feed store, recounted to Pete
and Irvine a hunting trip when hunger
drove the Ratwursts to boil their shoe-
laces for soup seasoned with cascara
tree bark.
I determined to prepare proper fi x-
in’s for the family hunters.
On D-day (deer), the hunters rose
in the early morning darkness to the
hearty breakfast I’d cooked. If my
kitchen had been a café, the breakfast
special would have been labeled “#1
The Works … and Then Some.”
Next, the scramble to load supplies.
I carried the hunters’ lunch I’d fi xed,
which consisted of two brown, heap-
ing grocery sacks, out to their vehi-
cle, and stuck them up front for handy
access. The fried chicken pieces I’d
tucked in individual sandwich bags for
ease in eating. With their salad bowls,
I’d included plastic forks. The straw-
berry shortcake nestled neatly next to
the brownies. Homemade buttered rolls
in plastic wrap sat atop the veggie rel-
ish tray. Midday snacks included jerky,
assorted chips, and trail mix. Fruit
slices, cheeses and crackers topped off
the meal.
The hunters’ plan: drive to a prom-
ising spot, park, and hike into the wil-
derness. Visions of venison for winter.
Meanwhile, I’m home thinking of
the hunters — cold and hungry. I start
dinner.
The hunters returned home after
dark.
“How was the hunt?” I asked.
“Didn’t see anything.”
I put the roast beef, carrots and
potatoes on the table along with a salad
and side dishes.
“Dinner’s ready.” I pulled two pies
out of the oven.
“We’re not hungry,” says a hunter.
I asked about the challenging hike
while looking for game.
“Actually, we didn’t get out of the
vehicle.”
A recounting of the day’s activities:
“Yep, all we did was drive around
all day and eat,” Pete said.
“We fi nished up the brownies the
last fi ve miles driving here,” Irvine
added.
So much for exhausted, emaciated
hunters.
Visions of venison shattered.
Jean Ann Moultrie is a Grant
County writer. A friend of the author’s
reminds that women also go out
hunting and family helps with meals.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The end does not
justify the means
To the Editor:
I moved to John Day four years
ago not having spent one day of
my life as an activist. The same
might be true today had I not wit-
nessed the show of dishonesty,
disregard, and disrespect to the
citizens of John Day and Grant
County via the Project Turnkey/
Dreamers Lodge initiative last
year.
That initiative gave me my fi rst
glimpse into how things get done
by our so-called public servants. I
now understand that the behavior
demonstrated by CCS, the city of
John Day, Families First of Grant
County as well as other nonprofi t
and public entities that supported
this cause by loaning out their staff
to serve on a hand-picked and irre-
proachable Project Turnkey steer-
ing committee was not isolated
behavior. Now I understand that
behavior to represent a modus ope-
randi; a methodology; a way of
doing business that permeates the
governmental leadership of John
Day, Grant County, local nonprof-
its and a sprinkling of prominent,
local private enterprises.
None of my objections, not
one, has to do with whether or not
we have a pool, bike path, green-
houses, transitional housing, or
positive and worthwhile progress
of any kind. I believe everyone
loves their children and wants the
absolute best for their families and
their community.
The main reason I and oth-
ers are frustrated, and contrary;
out conducting research and ask-
ing questions is that I and others
don’t like to be deceived, margin-
alized, and lied to. People don’t
feel respected or valued when
deliberately excluded from a deci-
sion-making process that directly
aff ects them. For me, this isn’t
even an issue of politics or par-
tisanship because I don’t believe
anyone appreciates being misled.
I want a pool in our commu-
nity, but I don’t want it rammed
down my throat through an insid-
er’s game of smoke and mirrors
and sleight-of-hand. When and if
an aquatic center comes to fruition
in our community, I want it to be
the result of a clean, transparent,
informed and collective process.
My protestations are not about
not wanting good things for our
community. I simply reject the idea
and belief that “the end justifi es
the means.”
Paul Sweany
John Day
Please vote yes
on pool bond
To the Editor:
Please join me in voting yes on
bond 12-85!
I am excited about the prospect
of an updated, up-to-code pool that
all residents can enjoy. Our com-
munity lacks recreational activi-
ties to serve all ages. The new pool
will be an essential facility pro-
viding a safe and healthy place for
residents. It will be a place where
kids can learn to swim, youth of
all ages can take part in swim
team and compete at swim meets,
adults can swim laps and recre-
ate, and seniors can get low-impact
exercise.
We are far too remote of a
county to have to drive over an
hour to access a community pool.
An unsupervised swimming hole
in the river is not an acceptable
alternative to a public pool staff ed
with trained lifeguards and swim
instructors. The risk of drowning
is real. Let’s not wait for a tragedy
to drive home the need for a safe
place to swim.
Certain groups have complained
about a lack of transparency. This
is inaccurate. Formal public meet-
ings regarding a pool replacement
plan have been held since 2017,
but discussions have been ongoing
for 25-plus years. Yes, revisions
have been made along the way but
all included public involvement.
Reports were published in 1997
and 2009 that recognized the need
for a new location and the clear
winner from a planning standpoint
was Seventh Street. Since the 1997
report, all but two potential pool
locations were eliminated from
consideration by FEMA fl oodplain
revisions.
The point has also been raised
that the costs will go up. That
could be true! The longer we
bicker about misinformation or
personal confl icts, the more infl a-
tion will aff ect costs, and the more
likely we are as a community to
lose $2 million and end up paying
the entire construction cost without
grant funding. Seventh Street is the
right location and now is the right
time to move forward.
Please vote “yes” so the chil-
dren in our community can have
access to a safe place to swim,
just like previous generations have
had access to theirs! Vote yes on
12-85!
Ashley Armichardy
John Day
Give credit where
credit is due
To the Editor:
There are many attacks on Pres-
ident Biden for matters that he,
as president, can’t quickly and
directly control, like gas prices.
(Nor can any other leader of any
other country magically reduce
the infl ation that their countries
are experiencing.) It is important
to remember that when it comes
to international relations, the pres-
ident has a very signifi cant and
timely role to play.
Bret Stephens is a conservative
columnist for The New York Times
and on Sept. 13 he wrote, “This
column is rarely short of criticism
of the Biden administration. So let
me loudly cheer the fact that the
staggering gains Ukrainian forces
have made against Russia are a
victory for Joe Biden, too.” Ste-
phens notes that it isn’t just that
the U.S. has supplied many essen-
tial weapons to Ukraine, “It’s that
we are providing Ukrainians with
the kind of battlefi eld intelligence
that enables them to maneuver,
target, strike and evade in ways
they otherwise couldn’t.”
Stephens concludes, “As the
war enters a new phase, it will
inevitably bring new dangers. No
danger is graver than failing to
prevail. Full credit to Biden for
getting, and acting on, the point.”
The embattled, heroic peo-
ple of Ukraine should under-
stand that Americans appreciate
that their president is doing every-
thing in his legal power to assist
them. When blame is due, blame,
and when credit is due, give credit.
That is what an informed elector-
ate does.
Nancy Nickel
Prairie City