Gov. Kotek issues emergency order allowing Port of Morrow to violate water pollution permit

By Alex Baumhardt | Oregon Capital Chronicle | Jan. 13, 2025

Oregon’s second largest port is getting another exception to a water pollution permit it’s violated for much of the last two decades. 

Gov. Tina Kotek issued an executive order Monday afternoon, declaring an economic emergency and allowing officials at the Port of Morrow in Boardman six weeks of relief — between Jan. 15 and Feb. 28 — from state penalties for violating their wastewater permit and overapplying nitrogen contaminated water on farmland that sits atop an already contaminated underground aquifer. 

That aquifer supplies drinking water to thousands of residents in Morrow and Umatilla counties in northeast Oregon, many of whom cannot drink water safely from their taps because of the pollution. Nitrates, which come from nitrogen, is unhealthy to drink for long periods when it’s above 10 milligrams per liter, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Studies have shown high levels of nitrate consumption can lead to higher risk of certain cancers and birth defects.