Federal judge warns ‘no roadmap’ in Eastern Oregon nitrates lawsuit

By Antonio Sierra | OPB | Oct. 30, 2024

By suing some of the largest agricultural producers in the Lower Umatilla Basin, a group of local residents are trying to get the federal courts to do what they say state government has failed at for the past three decades: take decisive action against nitrate pollution.

But as he considered Tuesday whether he should allow the lawsuit to move forward, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Hallman said the court was moving into new waters.

“There is no roadmap for this type of case,” he told the parties assembled at the federal courthouse in Pendleton.

There were so many attorneys in the small courtroom above the Pendleton post office that some sat in the jury box. Even if there wasn’t a lot of precedent to lean on, lawyers for both sides made their case for why Pearson v. Port of Morrow should be heard by the court or be thrown out entirely.