Local kids are
“Paying It
Forward”
50¢
VOL. 141
NO. 2
8 Pages
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
DEQ fines Port of Morrow $1.3 million
for groundwater contamination
‘These are serious violations of water quality regulations’ says agency
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) has fined the
Port of Morrow $1.3 million
for repeatedly overapplying
wastewater containing ni-
trogen to agricultural fields
and failing to monitor those
fields in the Lower Umatilla
Basin, a news release from
the DEQ said Tuesday.
Groundwater is used as
a primary drinking water
source by residents in the
basin, which spans north-
ern Morrow and Umatilla
counties. “High levels of
nitrate in drinking water is
linked with serious health
concerns, particularly for
infants and pregnant wom-
en,” the release said.
The Port of Morrow
collects wastewater from
food processors, storage
facilities and data centers
in its industrial park outside
Boardman. The port has a
DEQ water quality permit
that allows it to use the
nitrogen-rich wastewater
beneficially for irrigation
on nearby farms, but the
permit includes limits on
how much nitrogen can
be applied to the farmland
and how much nitrate can
be present in soil prior to
applications.
According to the DEQ,
the port violated these limits
more than a thousand times,
resulting in approximately
165 tons of excess nitro-
gen being applied between
2018-2021. The port also
failed to monitor nitrogen
Wastewater generated by businesses at the Port of Morrow is used to irrigate farmland.
at application sites on 121
separate occasions each
year from 2018 to 2020.
“These are serious vi-
olations of water quality
regulations that are in place
to protect public health
and the environment,” said
Leah Feldon, DEQ depu-
ty director. “The existing
nitrate contamination in
the basin’s groundwater
means everyone in the re-
gion has to do their part to
reduce this contamination.
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,” Feldon
added.
Nitrogen limits pre-
vent overapplication and
ensure nitrates don’t filter
down through the soil into
groundwater. Nitrogen is
a beneficial plant nutrient
but applying too much can
contribute to groundwater
contamination, said the
agency.
According to the DEQ,
drinking water with high
levels of nitrates can in-
crease risk of methemo-
globinemia, or blue baby
syndrome, especially for
infants who drink baby
formula mixed with water
containing nitrate above the
safe level.
The DEQ identified the
Port of Morrow’s wastewa-
ter as one of many sources
contributing to nitrate con-
tamination in the area’s
groundwater. The primary
source of contamination
is fertilizer use on irrigat-
ed farmland, followed by
confined animal feeding
operations such as dairies,
pastures, food processing
wastewater systems and
septic systems.
The DEQ said it is
working with the Port of
Morrow and other indus-
trial facilities in the area
to ensure appropriate and
agronomic irrigation prac-
tices during the non-grow-
ing season when crop up-
take of nitrate is minimal.
There is increased risk of
nitrate reaching groundwa-
ter during the non-growing
season.
Reducing groundwater
nitrate contamination from
food processors is a goal of
the Lower Umatilla Basin
Groundwater Management
Area (LUBGWMA) Sec-
ond Local Action Plan,
which was finalized in Oc-
tober 2020. The port and
other local businesses and
organizations contributed
to the development of that
action plan.
A sign was left in the laundromat with quarters taped on,
reading “The next one is on us. Let’s start the year good!”
By Hannah Finch
Children from Heppner
have recently been paying it
forward to the community
anonymously. A sign with
quarters taped on it was
spotted in the laundromat,
free for anyone to use. A
similar sign was seen in
the post office with stamps
stapled to it. The children
also chipped in $20 to pay
for someone’s meal, all
done without seeking rec-
ognition.
The children’s purpose
was to show acts of kind-
ness beyond the everyday
things. They wanted to go
out of their way to really
help people in the commu-
nity. The children hoped
that when these small acts
were noticed, people would
follow their lead and pay it
forward, creating a wave of
kindness.
The community caught
on quickly. The post office
reported that other people
have been adding stamps to
the sign. Though these good
deeds may easily go unno-
ticed, the rippling effect that
they create have the power
to change people’s lives for
the better.
The family insisted
that it wasn’t really about
these kids doing these ran-
dom acts of kindness, but
more about lifting people’s
spirits up. “It’s about hav-
ing everyone doing these
seemingly small things and
paying it forward.”
County wants wind turbine lighting fixed
Red lights should stop flashing with no planes around
to cut down on the amount
of visual pollution caused
by the constantly flashing
red lights, which is the
type installed on all earlier
built wind farms. NextEra
agreed to put in the special
on-demand system after
county commissioner and
pilot Don Russell insisted
it be part of the compa-
ny’s agreement to receive
special tax breaks from
the county. However, com-
missioners are learning
the system isn’t operating
Another sign with free stamps stapled to it was found in the
-See WIND TURBINES/ post office. “Need a stamp… Take a stamp. Happy new year!”
PAGE THREE
Constantly flashing red lights on top of the Wheatridge
wind towers are an annoyance to neighbors, and should shut
down.
is needed for a plane to
trip the system and cause
the red lights to come on is
to be within three nautical
miles and 1,000 feet, but
that is not happening, and
the lights stay on all the
time. “They are on more
than they are off,” he em-
phasized.
Seitz knows firsthand
the effects of the always on
lights. “I am a neighbor to
Wheatridge and from my
house anywhere you walk
around through any win-
dows you look out you can
see the lights,” he said. “In
my bed at night looking out
the window I can see them.
The problem is the lights
don’t shut off like they
are supposed to. They are
supposed to go out, which
isn’t very often,” he said.
Commissioners said they
are also hearing complaints
from other people about
the bright lights being on
all night. Commissioner
Melissa Lindsay, who can
also see the towers from
her home, said, “The last
couple of months there has
been no off.”
The special on demand
lighting system, required
by the county when Nex-
tEra built the Wheatridge
wind farm, was designed
E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
NEW
2022
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By David Sykes
The red flashing aircraft
warning lights on top of the
recently built wind towners
in south Morrow County
should shut automatically
off when no airplanes are
around; but they don’t, and
the county wants that fixed,
commissioners said at their
meeting last week.
Commercial pilot
Wayne Seitz, who lives near
the towers, was at the meet-
ing and said the lights are
on more than they are off.
“Something is not working
right,” he told the commis-
sioners. Seitz said most
aircraft flying over (the
wind towers) are at 32 to
38 thousand feet and planes
flying that high should not
trip the system and turn on
the warning lights. Seitz,
who is a certified instru-
ment flight instructor with
advanced ratings, said FAA
standards indicate all that
for more
information
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