A federal judge has cleared the path for a lawsuit accusing the Port of Morrow, a power company, and agricultural businesses of polluting the groundwater in the Lower Umatilla Basin to move forward.

Eastern Oregon residents who have lived for years with contaminated water can move forward with a class action lawsuit against the Port of Morrow and large food processors in the area, a federal judge ruled.

PENDLETON — The lawsuit accusing the Port of Morrow, commercial farms and operators of contaminating groundwater in Oregon’s Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area can move forward.

Please Note: Both the article & video are in French.

Secret des données d’utilisation d’eau potable dans une municipalité, pressions sur le système hydrique et impact sur les saumons…

There’s a moment many nonprofit professionals recognize. It is when the work you care about deeply starts to feel heavier than you expected. Amy Busch knows that feeling well. She has also learned what helps carry it.

Rural Oregonians are being forced to drink contaminated water while corporations expand unchecked.

Pollution from industrialized agriculture, confined animal feeding operations, and processed food factories, has caused a decades-long public health crisis in the Lower Umatilla Basin.

Planning officials in Oregon’s Morrow County recently approved a proposal from Amazon to build a data center campus with buildings encompassing 816,000 square feet just east of the Boardman Airport. 

NonStop Local - Tri-Cities/Yakima

Eli Kern

Morrow County residents alleged getting sick after Amazon contributed to nitrate pollution by trying to cool the companies' computers at their data centers.

Amazon has settled with the residents of Morrow County, Oregon, on Tuesday, agreeing to pay $20.5 million for the company’s alleged contributions to the region’s nitrate pollution from its data centers.

PENDLETON – Legal counsel representing residents in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area announced a preliminary $20.5 million settlement with Amazon Data Services on Tuesday, addressing a lawsuit that alleged the company’s data centers contributed to nitrate contamination in Morrow and Umatilla counties.

NonStop Local - KHQ

Newsroom

A landmark class action settlement agreement between Amazon and a group of residents in Eastern Oregon today marks the first time a Big Tech company has committed to paying damages related to public health threats allegedly exacerbated by the construction and operation of its data centers.

BOARDMAN, Ore. – Amazon Data Services, Inc. settled for $20.5 million for a lawsuit related to nitrate pollution in eastern Oregon, according to community organizer organization Oregon Rural Action.

Tech giant Amazon will pay $20.5 million to settle with northeast Oregonians living with contaminated groundwater in exchange for no admission of guilt in the polluting.