Kotek returns to Oregon’s Umatilla Basin as locals grapple with nitrate response

By Antonio Sierra (OPB) and Monica Samayoa (OPB)

A year ago, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek promised a “new day” for the Lower Umatilla Basin’s decades-long nitrates crisis. When she returned to Boardman this week, Kotek told community leaders that there are many more days of work ahead before the crisis can be solved.

Since Kotek’s last visit, the state has conducted hundreds of well tests and provided filters or bottled water deliveries to many homes with high nitrate levels. Kotek’s 2023 visit was a milestone for residents of Morrow and Umatilla counties, where nitrate pollution had been a known issue for more than three decades by the time she arrived.

Wells are the primary source of drinking water in the region, and testing has shown nitrate contamination levels increasing, with some wells exceeding the federal standard for safe drinking water limit by five times.

Community members and state agencies have been working to begin to address the decades-long challenge. But local residents have grown impatient as levels continue to increase and little has been done to begin to clean up the issue.