FROM PAGE ONE
A11 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022
Stanfield celebrates Independence Day weekend
Photos by Yasser Marte/Hermiston Herald
Locals dined on barbecue and cake at Bard Park in Stanfield on Sunday, June 3, 2022, to help raise funds for fireworks and kick off the July
Fourth weekend. Proceeds from the event went toward the community’s July 4 fireworks show. The band Hired Guns (pictured at top right)
kicked off Sunday’s festivities, and volunteer firefighters grilled burgers (bottom right).
Water
bad for other people, too, es-
pecially if the nitrates are con-
sumed in high quantities over
a long period of time.
Continued from A1
In person, she further con-
firmed the safety of the drink-
ing water. She said she, herself,
drinks the city’s water and has
done so for years. Pettigrew
added she does not filter the
water she receives from the tap.
Things were different, she
said, when she was living “in
the county.” Back then, she
bought and consumed bot-
tled water, according to the city
manager.
“This isn’t a new issue for us,”
she said.
Pettigrew said city water is
on a quarterly testing schedule.
Last tested January 20, the city’s
water tested 4.77 parts per mil-
lion, she said.
According to the Oregon
Department of Environmen-
tal Quality, nitrate levels above
10 ppm “may present a serious
health concern for infants and
pregnant or nursing women.”
Pettigrew said many people
do not know the facts about
their drinking water, however.
Some people, she stated, believe
mistruths that have been popu-
larized on social media.
FACTS FROM THE SOURCE
Over at Sam Boardman El-
ementary, workers have been
filling up water containers
from a fire hydrant. This wa-
ter, sourced from the city of
Boardman, is safe to drink,
they said.
Zaira Sanchez, director of
community organizing for Or-
egon Rural Action, was among
the helpers at the school.
“We’re here, ready to distrib-
ute water to the community for
people who have private wells,
who might have water contam-
inated by nitrates,” she said.
She added she and other
people at the school are pro-
viding water to people who are
unsure about whether their
water is contaminated, perhaps
as they wait for a test result.
This issue, she said, is mean-
ingful to her.
“I work here in Morrow
County,” Sanchez said, “know-
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
From left, Ana Maria Rodriguez, Zaira Sanchez and Ana Pineryo provide clean drinking water June 24, 2022,
at Sam Boardman Elementary.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Nancy Garcia, a human resources specialist, accepts water samples at
Boardman Foods on June 24, 2022.
ing that our community’s af-
fected by this concerns me.”
Sanchez said she identifies
as Latinx. This group, she said,
“hasn’t largely known about
this issue” and has not been
fully informed.
Fluent in English and Span-
ish, she said she can commu-
nicate with people who only
know a single language.
Ana Maria Rodriguez, com-
munity organizer, agreed with
the importance of communi-
cating facts in multiple lan-
guages. Working at the Sam
Boardman site with Sanchez,
she said she has encountered
several people who only know
Spanish.
“It’s most of them,” she said
of the people she has met at the
site, and if not for her help, and
the assistance of other Spanish
speakers, these people would
not be provided with informa-
tion.
Ana Pineyro, Morrow
NOW
HIRING
County communicable dis-
ease and emergency prepared-
ness coordinator, was working
alongside Sanchez and Rodri-
guez. She said she frequently
encounters people who do not
have all the facts, regardless of
whether they speak Spanish or
English.
Some people, she said, in-
accurately believe that boil-
ing water will make it safe for
drinking. The truth, Pineyro
said, is very different.
“With nitrates, this is not
true,” she said.
According to Pineyro, boil-
ing water makes water less safe,
as it does not remove nitrates
and actually increases nitrate
concentration.
Also, she said, many people
don’t think about all the ways
that they use water. They will
avoid drinking glasses of water,
but they use it for cooking or
preparing coffee. These uses,
she said, are still dangerous.
She said she wants people
to take this issue seriously. Ni-
trates, Pineyro said, are infa-
mous for adversely affecting
children and pregnant people.
What people might not know,
however, is that nitrates can be
HELPING PEOPLE AT
BOARDMAN FOODS
Deanna Camp, Boardman
Foods safety and training man-
ager, is helping people, too. At
her company, she meets people,
gives them bottles for collecting
their drinking water and then
instructs them to gather their
water and bring it back to her
company.
Camp said she often clears
up misconceptions. Often, she
said, people don’t know about
proper water collection.
Drinking water, she said,
should be collected from the
same taps from which people
drink.
“We’re looking for water
samples from the kitchen sink,”
she said.
Camp stated she has had
to correct people who have
thought they should be get-
ting samples directly from their
wells.
She said, too, that it doesn’t
take much water to create a
sample. According to Camp, a
lab can detect nitrate levels in 4
ounces of water.
They do, however, need to
process the sample quickly, ac-
cording to Camp.
“The lab has to test it within
48 hours,” she said.
Once people bring samples
to Boardman Foods, Camp
said, the samples are sent to
Kuo Testing Laboratories,
whose nearest office is in Uma-
tilla.
Results can take a week or
more, Camp said.
She said she has received
tests back already, and some ni-
trate results are more than 40
ppm.
Given the level of some of
these tests, Camp said it is im-
portant for people to have full
understanding of their well wa-
ter. Knowledge, however, is just
one step, she said; there must be
action, too.
Anyone who discovers high
nitrate levels should contact
Morrow County Public Health
at 541-481-4200 or email ap-
ineyro@co.morrow.or.us.
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