“Morrow County declares emergency over high nitrate levels in wells”

June 10, 2022 Oregon Rural Action

By Monica Samayoa | OPB | June 10, 2022

A team from Oregon Rural Action is assisting the county and has tested tap water in about 60 homes in Boardman and Irrigon. The team found almost all were above the federal safe drinking water limit and dozens were five times that limit, said Kristin Anderson Ostrom, the group’s executive director. Some residents were unaware of the health effects of drinking high levels of nitrate, and most were using the tap water to wash clothes, take showers and for cooking. Zaira Sanchez, ORA’s director of organizing, said it was hard to deliver test results. “The common response from the community was immediate shock and concern,” she said. “For example, one family had a result of 41 milligrams per liter in their water and I asked, ‘what do you think when you see that number or hear that number?’ And the common response was something like, ‘is that high, is that bad?’