Boardman group seeks ‘fair and just’ terms for safe drinking water

Photo of Boardman water tower. Photo Credit: Oregon Rural Action

BOARDMAN — A grassroots group in Boardman have gathered signatures for a petition demanding “fair and just” terms for safe drinking water in their homes.

In a letter Thursday, July 30, to the Morrow County Clean Water Consortium, which is leading a plan to extend Boardman city water to the neighborhood, West Glen United highlighted its ongoing concern — the additional costs to residents to have their neighborhood connected to the city water supply.

The wells in West Glen are highly contaminated with nitrate. Many are three to six times the federal limit. The consortium identified the West Glen neighborhood as the first project in the county to develop a secure, safe source of drinking water.

“We didn’t pollute our wells — big ag and big tech did — and we’ve paid the cost in well expense, health and property values,” Paulo Lopez, an ambassador for West Glen United, said in a press release announcing the petition. “The polluters need to pay for the solutions — not the taxpayers or residents with polluted wells.”