The Port of Morrow is surrounded by four industrial parks with data processing centers, an ethanol plant and food processors. It produces tons of nitrogen-rich water that it sends out to area farms to use on crops, but over the years, too much nitrogen has been spread, contributing to groundwater contamination. (Kathy Aney/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
Oregon’s second largest port is getting another exception to a water pollution permit it’s violated for much of the last two decades, according to Gov. Tina Kotek.
She issued an executive order Monday afternoon, allowing officials at the Port of Morrow in Boardman six weeks of relief — between Jan. 15 and Feb. 28 — from state penalties for violating their wastewater permit and over-applying nitrogen contaminated water on farmland that sits atop an already contaminated underground aquifer.
That aquifer supplies drinking water to thousands of residents in Morrow and Umatilla counties in northeast Oregon, many of whom cannot drink water safely from their taps because of the pollution. Nitrates, which come from nitrogen, is unhealthy to drink for long periods when it’s above 10 milligrams per liter, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Studies have shown high levels of nitrate consumption can lead to higher risk of certain cancers and birth defects.
Extraordinary rains
Port officials claim heavy rains have caused their wastewater storage lagoons to swell and that they’ll either be forced to violate their permit by spreading some of the overflow into area fields beyond allowed limits or pause operations, which could result in layoffs or temporarily suspending employees.
The port has an economic output of more than $2.5 billion a year, according to its annual reports. The governor’s office said Monday that about 6,000 people in Morrow and Umatilla counties are employed by the port or by industries that rely on it.
“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 the 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.”
Precipitation in the Lower Umatilla Basin in November and December was 95% higher than the 20-year average for those two months, the release said, and is projected to be 40% higher than average for December and January.
Mike Hiatt, water quality permitting manager for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, said the port’s excess wastewater will be applied to fields at low risk of leaching nitrate into the groundwater aquifer and to fields that are away from domestic wells.
“We have been very aggressive, in terms of DEQ with the port and the compliance plan, and we do want the community to know that we have been holding the port accountable,” Hiatt said.
Long pollution history
The Port of Morrow has a long history of violating its state wastewater permit —and has racked up thousands of violations for at least 17 of the last 18 years — according to an investigation by the Capital Chronicle. It is the largest wastewater permit holder regulated by the state, in terms of the volume of water it processes, DEQ officials say. The port handles up to 3.5 billion gallons of wastewater each year, and it added 1 billion gallons in just the last decade.
Under its current water permit with the state, the Port of Morrow agreed to cut back on 57 million gallons of wastewater generated during the winter months — about 1.5% of its annual wastewater volume — by limiting the amount of water used by some companies doing business at the port. Port officials have agreed to build a 750 million-gallon wastewater storage lagoon that will be completed this summer and to finish infrastructure needed for secondary treatment of wastewater stored in digesters, which will remove nitrogen from the water. The port is currently seeking a $430 million loan from EPA to finish the secondary treatment by 2029.
“We know that this will be the last winter when land application will occur due to the upgrades that the Port of Morrow is currently making and the updated schedule that DEQ has required,” Kotek said.
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