Press Release - Groups Argue Governor was Misled in Decision to Allow Increased Pollution by the Port of Morrow, Demand Revocation and Public Health Emergency
Oregon Rural Action
P.O. Box 1231
La Grande, OR 97850
Phone (541) 975-2411
www.oregonrural.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2025
Contact: Kaleb Lay, Director of Policy & Research
kalebl@oregonrural.org; (541) 805-8651
Groups Argue Governor was Misled in Decision to Allow Increased Pollution by
the Port of Morrow, Demand Revocation and Public Health Emergency
Decision Allows the Notorious Polluter to Violate Permit, Increase Risk of Groundwater
Contamination with Impunity During High-Risk Winter Season
Boardman – Last week, a group of 26 organizations and leaders from across Oregon sent a letter to Governor Kotek documenting in detail the misleading basis for her recent emergency declaration, which allows the infamous Port of Morrow to pollute with near impunity in the Lower Umatilla Basin during the high-risk winter season, putting rural residents at continued risk of drinking water contamination.
The groups once again called on her to take immediate emergency action to protect rural residents, prioritizing Oregonians over corporate profits by both rescinding the order and declaring a public health & environmental emergency.
“So much of the problem in the Lower Umatilla Basin can be boiled down to polluters getting what they want at the drop of a hat while the victims of pollution are told to quiet down and wait their turn,” said Kristin Anderson Ostrom, executive director of Oregon Rural Action. “We’ve been asking for the Governor to step up and declare a public health emergency for years, but when polluters ask for an emergency declaration to protect their profits, they get it within weeks. After 35 years of pollution, it’s time for the Governor to correct course and enforce Oregon’s laws.”
The letter lays out in great detail that EO 25-02, which the Governor signed in January, may have been based on inaccurate or even misleading information from the Port of Morrow and local polluting industries. The order gave the Port permission to violate its permit by dumping massive amounts of highly contaminated wastewater during the winter season, when the risk of polluting groundwater is highest. Despite the risk of making the Lower Umatilla Basin’s nitrate crisis even worse, the Governor granted the Port’s request for EO 25-02 following threats of mass layoffs.
The letter also calls on Gov. Kotek to finally fulfill her promises to protect the community and environment by declaring a public health and environmental emergency in the Lower Umatilla Basin. Organizations and community members have long argued that such an emergency declaration is needed to deploy the resources necessary to fully protect the public from harm and enforce Oregon’s groundwater protection laws. But while the Governor was quick to grant the Port’s request under threat of mass layoffs, she has refused for years to grant the community’s request for a public health emergency to address the ongoing threat of nitrate pollution.
“For far too long, Governor Kotek and Oregon’s leaders have been promising community members, environmental advocates, and the U.S. EPA that they will address the area’s ongoing nitrate crisis – but the Governor’s recently issued free pass to pollute is offensive and calls into question the state’s willingness to protect its citizens,” said Food & Water Watch Staff Attorney Tyler Lobdell. “We demand Governor Kotek finally do what is necessary and declare a public health and environmental emergency in the LUBGWMA.”
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