“Morrow, Umatilla counties get $1.7M for nitrate contamination solutions”
Hermiston Herald - By Travis Snell - October 12, 2023
UMATILLA COUNTY — Umatilla and Morrow county officials learned Tuesday that the counties will receive $1.7 million in federal aid to address nitrate contamination in private wells.
According to a press release from Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, Environmental Protection Agency funding will help find long-term solutions to a water crisis in the Lower Umatilla Basin.
By Travis Snell | Hermiston Herald | October 12, 2023
“Umatilla and Morrow county officials learned Tuesday that the counties will receive $1.7 million in federal aid to address nitrate contamination in private wells.
According to a press release from Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, Environmental Protection Agency funding will help find long-term solutions to a water crisis in the Lower Umatilla Basin.”
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“Oregon counties receive $1.7M to address nitrate contamination”
Capital Press - By George Plaven - October 11, 2023
Two counties in northeast Oregon are getting $1.7 million in federal aid to address nitrate contamination in residential wells.
The funding, part of a $1.7 trillion congressional spending bill, will go to Umatilla and Morrow counties where officials are seeking long-term solutions for elevated nitrates in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area, or LUBGWMA.
By George Plaven | Capital Press | October 11, 2023
“Two counties in northeast Oregon are getting $1.7 million in federal aid to address nitrate contamination in residential wells.
The funding, part of a $1.7 trillion congressional spending bill, will go to Umatilla and Morrow counties, where officials are seeking long-term solutions for elevated nitrate levels in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area, or LUBGWMA.
The federal aid will be used to develop and implement a standardized well testing program for domestic wells as well as develop a feasibility plan for permanent solutions such as public drinking water systems.”
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“State coalition, ORA differ on well-testing outcomes”
By TRAVIS SNELL Hermiston Herald - By Travis Snell - October 6, 2023
"There's still a lot of work to do here, and we need state personnel to start working with a sense of urgency sooner, not later.”
"Todavía queda mucho trabajo por hacer aquí y necesitamos que el personal estatal comience a trabajar con sentido de urgencia pronto, no después”.
By Travis Snell | East Oregonain | October 7, 2023
““Everyone in this community deserves to make the choice whether they want tested or not, but even with Gov. Kotek’s deadline now passed, most folks still haven’t had that opportunity,” [Kaleb Lay] said.
However, he expressed frustration that testing wells is “just the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to nitrates.
“Nothing has been done to rein in polluting industry,” he said. “Not one well user has been connected to a permanent source of safe water, and we’ve heard nothing from the epidemiologists brought in to study what this has done to the community’s health. There’s still a lot of work to do here, and we need state personnel to start working with a sense of urgency sooner, not later.””
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“All water well owners in the Lower Umatilla Basin offered nitrate testing, Oregon officials say”
Oregon Public Broadcasting - By Antonio Sierra - October 4, 2023
“It’s a matter of public health,” he said. “For some folks, it’s a matter of life and death.”
"Es una cuestión de salud pública", afirmó. "Para algunas personas, es una cuestión de vida o muerte".
By Antonio Sierra | OPB | October 4, 2023
“Kotek helped secure money from the Legislature to help fund well testing, filters and clean water deliveries through June 2025. In an interview, Oregon Rural Action organizer Kaleb Lay acknowledged that collecting 1,000 well water samples represented significant progress.
Even so, Lay said OHA could have made more face-to-face contact with well owners, especially given the urgency of the situation.
“It’s a matter of public health,” he said. “For some folks, it’s a matter of life and death.””
“Most well-water users in northeast Oregon counties still in the dark about toxic contamination”
The Oregon Health Authority has failed to meet Gov. Tina Kotek’s expectation on well water testing for harmful contamination in northeast Oregon, rural advocates said.
Local organizers with the nonprofit environmental and social justice group Oregon Rural Action said the state’s testing campaign failed to meet Kotek’s expectations set in May that all wells would be tested by the end of September.
“The governor came out and looked people in the eye and said this would be dealt with, that testing would be done by Sept. 30,” said Kaleb Lay, an organizer for the group.
By Alex Baumhardt | Oregon Capital Chronicle | October 3, 2023
“The Oregon Health Authority has failed to meet Gov. Tina Kotek’s expectation on well water testing for harmful contamination in northeast Oregon, rural advocates said.
Local organizers with the nonprofit environmental and social justice group Oregon Rural Action said the state’s testing campaign failed to meet Kotek’s expectations set in May that all wells would be tested by the end of September.
“The governor came out and looked people in the eye and said this would be dealt with, that testing would be done by Sept. 30,” said Kaleb Lay, an organizer for the group.”
“Deadline passes for Oregon State efforts to test wells for nitrate contamination”
By Kaitlyn Smock | NonStop Local - Tri-cities/Yakima | October 2, 2023
“According to Oregon Rural Action, the majority of well owners in the lower Umatilla Basin remain unsure if their drinking water is safe.
It is estimated that 3,300 wells domestic wells exist in the lower Umatilla Basin.
The September 30 deadline set by Governor Tina Kotek, has passed with only 1,001 domestic wells being tested. ”
“Rural Oregon’s struggles for drinking water frame Senate talks of national crisis”
At a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden rattled off a list of Oregonians struggling to meet basic water needs. He mentioned dry wells in Southern Oregon, polluted groundwater in Eastern Oregon and Central Oregon, and years of boil water notices on the Warm Springs Reservation.
Wyden called on several federal agencies to collect national data on who doesn’t have safe water and direct more funding toward rural residents and Tribes.
“It’s hard to believe that in 2023 our country doesn’t even have some basic facts about the key issues to improve water quality, like who has indoor plumbing in America that actually works,” he told members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
By Emily Cureton Cook | OPB | September 21, 2023
“At a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden rattled off a list of Oregonians struggling to meet basic water needs. He mentioned dry wells in Southern Oregon, polluted groundwater in Eastern Oregon and Central Oregon, and years of boil water notices on the Warm Springs Reservation.
Wyden called on several federal agencies to collect national data on who doesn’t have safe water and direct more funding toward rural residents and Tribes.
“It’s hard to believe that in 2023 our country doesn’t even have some basic facts about the key issues to improve water quality, like who has indoor plumbing in America that actually works,” he told members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.”
“Reports of groundwater pollution in Oregon surface in a US Senate hearing”
Oregon Public Broadcasting - By Emily Cureton Cook - Sept. 11, 2023 6 a.m.
Across rural Oregon, state and federal laws don’t protect clean drinking water. That’s because these safeguards exclude private domestic wells, with consequences that were highlighted by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley last week at a congressional hearing on infrastructure spending.
At Thursday’s hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, the senator pointed to OPB’s reporting on two regions: In Eastern Oregon where more than 4,000 wells are at risk from decades of nitrate pollution by agricultural interests, and in Central Oregon, where dozens of people blame a gravel mine for sudden plumbing disasters and health concerns.
By Emily Cureton Cook | OPB | September 11, 2023
“Across rural Oregon, state and federal laws don’t protect clean drinking water. That’s because these safeguards exclude private domestic wells, with consequences that were highlighted by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley last week at a congressional hearing on infrastructure spending.
At Thursday’s hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, the senator pointed to OPB’s reporting on two regions: In Eastern Oregon where more than 4,000 wells are at risk from decades of nitrate pollution by agricultural interests, and in Central Oregon, where dozens of people blame a gravel mine for sudden plumbing disasters and health concerns.”
Video: Senator Merkley Highlights Contaminated Well Water in Rural Oregon
From the YouTube video description:
”Senator Merkley highlighted the pressing issue of contaminated private well water in rural Oregon communities during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (@EPWCmte) hearing titled “Implementing IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act): Perspectives on the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, Part II” on September 7, 2023.”
Posted by Senator Merkley | YouTube | September 7, 2023
From the YouTube video description:
”Senator Merkley highlighted the pressing issue of contaminated private well water in rural Oregon communities during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (@EPWCmte) hearing titled “Implementing IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act): Perspectives on the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, Part II” on September 7, 2023.”
“Oregon sets ambitious goal for testing nitrates in Umatilla Basin groundwater”
Oregon Public Broadcasting - By Monica Samayoa - Aug. 27, 2023 6 a.m.
State officials say they have ramped up nitrate testing in Eastern Oregon, where longstanding groundwater pollution has contaminated residents’ wells. Their aim is to contact all domestic well users in the region by the end of September.
The Oregon Health Authority along with the Oregon Department of Human Services said Friday that the agencies have turned to door-to-door canvassing to increase domestic well testing in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area. For more than 30 years, the region’s groundwater has been polluted with contaminates, primarily nitrates. Groundwater is the main source of drinking water for residents in the area.
Efforts have been made to address the issue, including the creation of a committee tasked with finding solutions, but nitrate levels have continued to increase, according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
By Monica Samayoa | OPB | August 27, 2023
“State officials say they have ramped up nitrate testing in Eastern Oregon, where longstanding groundwater pollution has contaminated residents’ wells. Their aim is to contact all domestic well users in the region by the end of September.
The Oregon Health Authority along with the Oregon Department of Human Services said Friday that the agencies have turned to door-to-door canvassing to increase domestic well testing in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area. For more than 30 years, the region’s groundwater has been polluted with contaminates, primarily nitrates. Groundwater is the main source of drinking water for residents in the area.
Efforts have been made to address the issue, including the creation of a committee tasked with finding solutions, but nitrate levels have continued to increase, according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.”