Gov. Kotek issues emergency order allowing Port of Morrow to violate water pollution permit

By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle

Port officials claim heavy winter rains have overloaded their wastewater lagoons, forcing them to offload contaminated water or lay off employees temporarily

BOARDMAN, Ore. (KTVZ) -- 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, are 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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News release from Gov. Kotek's office:

Governor Kotek Declares State of Emergency Due to Risk of Economic Shutdown in Morrow and Umatilla Counties

Emergency Order to Allow for Limited Wastewater Application to Designated Low-Risk Fields in the Lower Umatilla Basin

Salem, OR — Today, Governor Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency due to the risk of economic shutdown impacting Morrow and Umatilla counties.

The emergency declaration makes an exception to the Port of Morrow’s current wastewater permit with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), authorizing the Port to apply wastewater if necessary to fields within the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area (LUBGWMA) that are either down gradient from any domestic wells or designated as “low-risk.” The declaration only allows this from January 15 through February 28, which marks the end of the agricultural winter “non-growing season” when irrigation is not undertaken to grow agricultural crops.

Governor Kotek stated:

“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.

“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.

“This would result in lost jobs for community members across the region. Industries have taken voluntary measures to do their part to reduce wastewater in the Basin headed into this non-growing season, and 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.

“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.

“I have been very clear in my expectation that all entities involved in the creation and reuse of wastewater in the Lower Umatilla Basin work with federal, state, and local partners in our shared goal of reducing the nitrate groundwater contamination in the basin. This remains unchanged. I expect partners in this ecosystem, along with the counties, will continue to explore connections to public water systems and other drinking water solutions for impacted residents in both the near and long term.”

Cumulative precipitation since November is currently above the 95th percentile of the average for the last 23 years in the region. Given measured cumulative precipitation to date, along with forecasted La Niña winter conditions, the Port of Morrow anticipates that precipitation and freezing conditions will combine to overwhelm wastewater storage capacity in February and exceed the capacity of the Port’s approved land application site to accept wastewater consistent with the soil moisture restrictions in the Port’s permit. A recent permit modification requires the Port to finish building its new lined storage lagoons this year, effectively ending future winter application on the land a year ahead of the previously agreed upon schedule. A DEQ permit modification now reflects this and sets a deadline of November 1, 2025.

The compounding effect of the high levels of precipitation and lack of adequate lagoon storage capacity poses an imminent risk that the Port may have to stop receiving wastewater from food processing and other industrial facilities in February, or sooner. This would cause those facilities to cease operations, which will in turn trigger furloughs of potentially thousands of workers resulting in substantial economic harm to the region and the State of Oregon.

This order follows the continued action and involvement of the state over the past two years that has been directed by Governor Kotek to address the ongoing nitrate levels in the groundwater in this region. These actions include:

• Providing free testing to all domestic well owners in the LUBGWMA as well as a large-scale canvas effort to reach homeowners in the region to provide education about high levels of nitrate in drinking water and free testing resources;
• Free filtration systems for homes that qualify;
• Clean drinking water delivered directly to homeowners;
• A comprehensive Nitrate Reduction Plan strategy developed by state agencies in coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
• Adding capacity and professional facilitation of the local LUBGWMA Advisory Committee to help provide the structure to create meaningful recommended actions from the local stakeholders;
• Quarterly meetings with the EPA to continue the state and federal collaboration and commitment to address the complex situation in the LUBGWMA;
• Visits to the area to meet directly with community members about drinking water concerns and with the industry and agricultural partners to push for more action; and
• Millions of dollars of investment from the state to cover the cost of testing, treatment, water delivery, and long-term strategy development.

Pursuant to ORS 401.165 et seq., Governor Kotek determined that to avoid the shutdown of food processing and agricultural industries in Morrow and Umatilla counties, while still ensuring the protection of groundwater and groundwater users, the restrictions specifically set forth in Schedule A, Conditions (6), (8), (11) and (13) of the DEQ Permit, as applied to Farm 1 and Farm 3, and exclusively to fields that are ranked as “Low Risk” by the Permit on Farm 4 and Farm 5 are waived for the duration of this Executive Order.

A link to Executive Order 25-02 can be found here.