Press Release - Oregon Rural Action Releases Map of Pollution Sources in the Lower Umatilla Basin

Oregon Rural Action
P.O. Box 1231
La Grande, OR 97850
Phone (541) 975-2411
www.oregonrural.org

September 30, 2024

Contact: Kaleb Lay
kalebl@oregonrural.org
541-805-8651

MEDIA RELEASE

Oregon Rural Action Releases Map of Pollution Sources in the Lower Umatilla Basin

Interactive Map Shows Concentration and Severity of Groundwater &
Air Pollution in Rural “Sacrifice Zone”

Boardman, OR – Oregon Rural Action has unveiled a new interactive map of Morrow and Umatilla counties that shows how widespread the air and groundwater pollution there has become.

The Interactive Lower Umatilla Pollution Map, which is available in English and Spanish, contains information gathered from federal and state agencies about sources of pollution that affect groundwater and air quality in the area known as the Lower Umatilla Basin. People who live in the area are burdened by high levels of nitrate in groundwater used for drinking water as well as a disproportionate concentration of industrial air pollution.

“This is one of the most polluted places in Oregon, but most people who live here don’t know how bad it is,” said Kaleb Lay, ORA’s Director of Policy & Research. “Working class people can’t spend all day filing public records requests and pouring over permitting documents. This map puts the information in one place where anyone can see for themselves how bad it’s gotten.”

Though the State of Oregon has had this information for decades, it has never been put into an accessible format for the public.

Information about the area’s ongoing nitrate contamination crisis can be found in the map, including details about sources of nitrate. Those include more than a dozen Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), nearly two dozen sources of industrial wastewater, and some of the largest industrial agriculture operations in the area.

Information about domestic well testing by the Oregon Health Authority is also included in the map. More than half of the 1,700 wells tested show unnaturally high levels of nitrate, with many of those testing far above the safe drinking water limit. Roughly half of wells across the Basin remain untested. The map also contains information about some of the largest sources of industrial air pollution. According to the EPA, 43% of air emissions from large industrial facilities in the entire State of Oregon were released in Morrow and Umatilla Counties in 2022. Four of Oregon’s five top polluting power plants are located in the area, and much of the electricity they produce is exported out of northeast Oregon.

“The unchecked growth of industry and corporate agriculture has turned these communities into sacrifice zones, all for the sake of profit,” said Kristin Anderson Ostrom, ORA’s Executive Director. “Regulators would never allow pollution to get this out of hand in a wealthy Willamette Valley suburb, but since these are working-class, heavily Latino communities that happen to be east of the Cascades, we get treated differently.”

To view the maps in English or Spanish, go to oregonrural.org.

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