WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2022
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
Kathy Aney/Hermiston Herald
Morrow County Commissioner Jim Doherty collects a water sample from the faucet of Boardman homeowner Tiff any Baldock on Monday, May 9, 2022. A lab will determine if the
water is contaminated with nitrates.
TAINTED
Morrow County Commissioner Doherty says
nitrates in Boardman water a threat to life
By PHIL WRIGHT • Hermiston Herald
M
orrow County Commissioner Jim
Doherty is making the water pollution
in his county a top priority.
“The nitrate issue in the
Columbia Basin has always
haunted me,” he said.
When he won election to the
county board fi ve years ago, he
said he crafted a list of goals,
and the nitrate problem was on
the list.
“Shamefully that is where
the ambition ended relative to
the work,” he said. “But in this
occupation, the best time to have
done something was years ago,
the next best time is now.”
When DEQ sent its notice
about the whopping port fi ne of
$1.3 million for nitrate pollution
in the upstream aquifer, Doherty
said that was a call of alarm he
heard to his core.
Discussion and a meeting
ensued almost immediately, he
said, just as it had for the past 30
years.
“Was this regulatory over-
reach?” he recalled. “Who were
the primary suspects? Would we
MORE INSIDE
See related story on A3 and
editorial on A4.
come together to craft a message
of solidarity?”
But Doherty said one voice
was absent from that meeting.
“In my view, the greater com-
munity were the only ones not
present then, nor at any time in
the past,” he said, “and I sur-
mised, potentially bearing the
biggest burden — that of real
and present health concerns.”
He then set out to test what
residents were drinking from the
end results at the kitchen faucets.
Tests results, residents deliver
bleak picture
The top responsibility of the
local public health authority and
Kathy Aney/Hermiston Herald
Lamb Weston at the Port of Morrow, photographed Tuesday, May 10, 2022, provides some of the wastewater
pumped to agricultural fi elds in the Boardman area. The nitrogen-rich groundwater has shown up in wells
of residents who draw water from the aquifer.
the board of commissioners, he
said, is public happiness and
health. His fellow commission-
ers gave the blessing for Doherty
to spend some resources for 100
expedited, if cursory, tests. Com-
missioner Melissa Lindsay even
partnered with Umatilla County
Commissioner Dan Dorran on a
bi-county eff ort to secure a more
long-range eff ort.
“I wasted little time in reach-
ing out to Ana Pineyro, our
Public Health Emergency Pre-
paredness coordinator, who has
helped me in the past and shines
most brightly as a community
outreach liaison,” Doherty said.
Morrow County is approach-
ing 50% Hispanic representa-
tion and as such, it is vital to
have someone like Ana who
can bridge that cross-cultural
divide.”
They hit the streets with test
See, Nitrates/Page A11
Abortion views shared locally
Supreme Court draft
on Roe v. Wade draws
predictable reactions
Hermiston Herald
The leaked draft of the
Supreme Court’s major-
ity opinion to overturn the
landmark Roe v. Wade case
is bright-lining the diff er-
ences on the two sides of
the debate from the halls of
Congress down to the local
level.
The political journalism
company Politico on May 2,
published the 98-page fi rst
draft on its website. In the
draft, Justice Samuel Alito
stood in opposition to the
1973 ruling, commenting it,
INSIDE
“Imposed a highly restric-
tive regime on states.” Later
he stated, “The Constitu-
tion makes no reference to
abortion.”
Oregon Executive Direc-
tor of Planned Parenthood
Advocates, An Do, stood
in direct opposition to this
claim in a press conference
May 3.
“This is about what we
care about,” she said. “It’s
about the right to privacy,
the right to marry who you
want.” Do portrayed the dis-
missal of Roe v. Wade as
opening the fl oodgates to
attacking civil rights.
If passed, it will be in
the hands of each individual
state to address what restric-
tions they place on abor-
tion. While Oregon most
likely will stay pro-abortion,
Planned Parenthood is look-
ing to expand into Ontario,
anticipating a mass surge
of patients across the Idaho
border.
In a press conference,
Lisa Gardener, CEO of
Planned Parenthood in
Southwestern Oregon, made
it clear that expansion into
Eastern Oregon is imminent,
but how soon is unknown.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little
has made several attempts
to pass fetal heartbeat laws
that would make it virtu-
ally impossible for abor-
tions to occur in the state.
Planned Parenthood brought
A3 Port of Morrow contaminates
water
See, Abortion/Page A11
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Sharon Buchanan, of Catholic Daughters of the Americas, holds up a sign Oct. 3, 2021, during a
Life Chain event. She was one of around 30 anti-abortion protesters near downtown Hermiston,
on both sides of Highway 395. Politico on May 3, 2022, leaked a draft of the Supreme Court’s
majority opinion to overturn the landmark 1973 case.
A8 Umatilla County elections
sees early trickle of ballots
A9 Morrow County seeks help in
Amazon negotiations
A10 Investigation ongoing into
explosion at Shearer’s plant