Oregon will allow the Port of Morrow to violate its water pollution permit by spreading nitrogen-contaminated wastewater on nearby agricultural fields, despite a drinking water crisis in the area.
Gov. Tina Kotek issued an executive order Monday declaring a state of emergency in Morrow and Umatilla counties, citing the risk of an economic shutdown if permit conditions aren’t waived.
The port processes wastewater from a number of agricultural and food processing businesses in the two counties.
Port officials say a wet winter threatens to overwhelm its wastewater storage capacity next month, meaning it would not be able to accept any more wastewater from businesses.
“My office has heard directly from producers and farmers in the Lower Umatilla Basin that pausing operations even for a short time in February would be devastating to the local economy and potentially shut down some operations permanently,” Kotek said in a news release.
“Morrow and Umatilla counties are key to our state’s agricultural production — directly and indirectly employing thousands of Oregonians, and feeding not just Oregonians, but families across the globe,” Kotek said in the release.
History of violations at Port of Morrow
The port, located in Boardman, is within the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area, so designated because the groundwater already has high levels of nitrates.
In the summer of 2022, Morrow County declared a state of emergency after testing showed private wells had high nitrate concentrations. The county began providing residents with bottled water.
Also that summer, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality fined the port $2.1 million for repeatedly overapplying wastewater containing nitrogen to agricultural fields and failing to monitor those fields.
DEQ increased its original $1.3 million fine, issued in January, after finding additional wastewater violations. DEQ found the port violated its permit 2,155 times.
Since then, the state has invested millions of dollars to cover the cost of drinking water testing, treatment, water delivery and long-term strategy development.
In April 2024, DEQ levied an additional $727,500 fine for more than 800 wastewater violations during the November 2023 through February 2024 non-growing season.
Port of Morrow gets one-time exception to permit rules
Kotek’s emergency declaration allows the port to dump wastewater on the fields between Wednesday and Feb. 28, a time when it’s normally prohibited.
It restricts the dumping to certain fields that are either down-gradient from domestic wells or considered at “low risk” of contaminating drinking water.
The port also agreed to complete new lined storage lagoons by Nov. 1, meaning it will no longer need to land-apply wastewater in the winter, Kotek said in the news release.
“I did not make this decision lightly. We must balance protecting thousands of jobs in the region, the national food supply, and domestic well users during this short period of time during an unusually wet winter,” she said.
Tracy Loew covers the environment at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Kotek allows Port of Morrow to violate water pollution permit