“Oregon governor pledges to address decades of groundwater pollution in Lower Umatilla Basin”

May 4, 2023 Oregon Rural Action

By Monica Samayoa & Antonio Sierra | OPB | May 4, 2023

Gov. Tina Kotek is ramping up pressure on state government to solve a three-decade nitrate crisis in Eastern Oregon’s Lower Umatilla Basin, but during a tour of the region Wednesday, she stopped short of declaring a state of emergency. Gov. Kotek spent much of Wednesday with community leaders and residents in Morrow County to learn more about the groundwater pollution in the region as part of her One Oregon Tour. She’s the highest elected state official to directly address nitrate contamination. “It’s a new day. It has taken a while to get here,” Kotek said to a small group of Latino leaders in Hermiston. “We have to reduce the pollutants going into the watershed. There’s a lot of effort going on to make sure we have a long-term solution. Our job is to hold people accountable.” Leaders and residents from the region asked the governor for more education and outreach about the health effects of drinking contaminated tap water, more free private well testing and creating a community group to hold state agencies accountable.