Tory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing plumber, adjusts a newly installed filter at a Boardman home on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Jim Doherty, Morrow County commissioner, and Tory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing plumber, discuss a water filtration unit on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Jim Doherty, Morrow County commissioner, and Tory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing plumber, discuss a water filtration unit on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Jane Kurtz of Boardman and Ana Pineyro, Morrow County communicable disease and emergency preparedness coordinator, discuss Kurtz's water issues Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Ana Pineyro, Morrow County communicable disease and emergency preparedness coordinator, and Morrow County Commissioner Jim Doherty look at results from a rapid test July 14, 2022, on drinking water in a Boardman home. U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced July 29 they secured $1.7 million for testing wells and to study longer-term solutions to the Boardman water problems and options for rural residents who rely on individual wells for their drinking water.
Commissioner Jim Doherty and Boardman homeowner Elno Sanchez take a look at Sanchez's well Thursday July 14, 2022. Sanchez's neighbor, Jane Kurtz, shares the well with him, and she found high levels of nitrates in her home. Learning this, Sanchez said he would have his water tested, too.
Water pours from a Boardman kitchen tap on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Jane Kurtz's Boardman home received a new water filtration unit Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Tory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing plumber, adjusts a newly installed filter at a Boardman home on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Jim Doherty, Morrow County commissioner, and Tory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing plumber, discuss a water filtration unit on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Jim Doherty, Morrow County commissioner, and Tory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing plumber, discuss a water filtration unit on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Jane Kurtz of Boardman and Ana Pineyro, Morrow County communicable disease and emergency preparedness coordinator, discuss Kurtz's water issues Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Ana Pineyro, Morrow County communicable disease and emergency preparedness coordinator, and Morrow County Commissioner Jim Doherty look at results from a rapid test July 14, 2022, on drinking water in a Boardman home. U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced July 29 they secured $1.7 million for testing wells and to study longer-term solutions to the Boardman water problems and options for rural residents who rely on individual wells for their drinking water.
Commissioner Jim Doherty and Boardman homeowner Elno Sanchez take a look at Sanchez's well Thursday July 14, 2022. Sanchez's neighbor, Jane Kurtz, shares the well with him, and she found high levels of nitrates in her home. Learning this, Sanchez said he would have his water tested, too.
Water pours from a Boardman kitchen tap on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Jane Kurtz's Boardman home received a new water filtration unit Thursday, July 14, 2022.
From her bed, Jane Kurtz of Boardman expressed gratitude for a new filtration system that went into her home.
“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Kurtz said to plumber Tory Uskoski, Morrow County Commissioner Jim Doherty and Ana Pineyro. “You guys are awesome.”
On Thursday, July 14, Kurtz received the first of 350 systems planned to go out to Morrow County homes to address high nitrate levels, according to Doherty.
“We’re going to ease into it,” the commissioner said of the installations. Three would take place on Thursday, and Doherty said he expected six installations a day in the following week. He described the process as “taking baby steps,” with installers carefully approaching the project and learning potential problems.
Addressing the nitrate problemMorrow County commissioners declared a local state of emergency on June 9, following the testing of wells and the discovery of water that contained nitrates above healthy consumption levels. Since then, further testing has been performed and other home drinking water has been deemed unsafe, with nitrate levels above 10 parts per million.
This applies only to some well water. The city of Boardman has verified that it has tested its water and it is safe to drink. Also, there are private well owners who have tested their drinking water and found it to be safe, too.
Concern remains, though, for people whose well water is rich in nitrates. Many of these people have taken advantage of clean water that has been made available to them at sites, including Sam Boardman Elementary, in Boardman. Also, they have sought free testing, available at Boardman Foods in Boardman, among other locations.
Installing the first filtersTory Uskoski, Blue Mountain Plumbing plumber, and Travis Gaines, assistant, installed the first of the filters. They said the devices are reverse osmosis systems with 2.5-gallon storage tanks.
Uskoski said this particular installation was simple. Many of these installations are easy, he added, and they are within the ability of DIY-inclined homeowners. However, this is not the case for every situation, he said.
“Everyone is a little different,” he said. Installation could, he said, become complicated at some homes. And some people, he added, might lack the ability or knowledge to perform any installation at all, even the “easy” ones.
He said that the filtration systems will need maintenance, including a change of filters between one and three years, depending on the level of nitrates in filtered water.
According to Doherty, this first installation was necessary, though many other homes might be in even greater need.
“Sad to say, this one was one of the low ones, at 28 (parts per million),” he said of Kurtz’s home.
He added that different agencies have varying levels of acceptability. Some groups, he said, take issue with water that has nitrate levels over 5 ppm.
The new filtration units, Doherty said, make water safe to drink; water processed through them has a negligible nitrate level in most cases.
“If you get some of those extremes that we’re getting, like a 68 or 70, the filters do a great job, but the higher you get, the harder it is to pull down,” he said.
He added that the systems still can reduce nitrates to drinkable levels, but filters require more frequent changing — maybe once every three months, rather than every year or more.
The county commissioner said that these filters are being used to address nitrates. In the future, he said, they may be adjusted so that they can protect from other contaminants, including arsenic, lead and coliform bacteria. For now, however, such work is outside the county’s scope.
“That’s outside of our emergency, which is a nitrate emergency,” he said. “In the short term, we just want to get something that will pull these nitrates out.”
He added that it is a “great idea” for homeowners to test their wells for other contaminants.
Homeowners say they are glad for the helpKurtz, who received the first filter, tried to get out of bed to properly thank the visitors to her home. They, however, convinced her that the gesture was unnecessary as she is bedridden with multiple sclerosis. Kurtz said she suffers from numerous health problems, and getting out of bed is difficult.
She said she had mostly avoided drinking her well water, as she preferred the taste of bottled water and flavored drinks. That said, she has consumed a fair amount of well water, she said; Kurtz cooked with it, used it for making coffee and even swallowed it in her shower.
“It looked like water,” she said.
It didn’t look as though it was unsafe to drink, she said, as it was clear. Kurtz said that she felt especially protected by heating it, but she now knows that boiling the water doesn’t remove nitrates.
For decades, she drank the water and believed she was not in great danger, she said.
In 1978, according to Kurtz, she moved into her home. At the time, she tested the water. She said she was told that she would be fine drinking the water if she used a water softener. Kurtz added that only recently she learned that a water softener alone would not make her water safe.
She said she doesn’t blame contaminated water for all of her health woes. Still, she added, it may have contributed to some of her problems.
Nitrate consumption has been linked to ill health in people with low immunity, including children, pregnant women and individuals who are already sick.
Pineyro, Morrow County communicable disease and emergency preparedness coordinator, showed up at her home one day recently and asked to test the water. Kurtz welcomed her to do that.
Pineyro said she was going door to door, and her visit to Kurtz was just one of many.
Kurtz said she is happy for receiving the filter, and she doesn’t blame any person or industry for actions they may have taken to put nitrates in her water. Many of the responsible people, she said, are long gone, and they were probably acting with the best knowledge they had at the time. No one, she said, could’ve known that they would have harmed her or anyone else, she said.
Standing at Kurtz’s bedside, Doherty said he agreed with her assessment. He added that companies doing business in the area now are operating with better practices, and they, too, are concerned about the well-being of local people.
“Twenty-five or 30 years ago, when this desert was blossoming, folks just went out every year and put on 200 or 300 pounds of nitrogen. It’s just what they did. Now, they’ve got precision measuring and dispensing of fertilizers,” he said. “I think they’re using best practices.”
Doherty said he favors action that keeps businesses open, while also improving their techniques.
Another Boardman homeowner, Gary Klinger, said he received a water filtration unit, too. According to Klinger, however, he was responding to a much lower nitrate level than Kurtz. He said county officials tested his water and found his nitrate level to be 5 ppm.
For years, he said, he has used the water for cooking and drinking, but he “didn’t think anything about it.” He thought it was safe.
After hearing about local concerns about nitrates, he said, he looked further into it. According to Klinger, though some agencies would consider his water drinkable, he would rather be safe than sorry, which is why he asked for the filtration system, which was provided free of charge.
His complaint, he said, is that the filter is only for his kitchen. He said he would prefer a system that would remove nitrates from all his water, regardless of where he received it.
“I should be able to drink from my hose and not have to worry about it,” he said. “I’m grateful for what I have. Don’t get me wrong. I’d just like it to be a little different.”
Morrow County states it has the resources to bring water and filters to up to 350 homes as it addresses contaminated wells. A month has passed since Morrow County commissioners declared a local state of emergency. Help has come from different directions, according to Commissioner Jim Doherty, and more assistance is expected.
Hermiston Herald editor/senior reporter, I started working for EO Media in August, 2021. I went to college, then abroad. I worked for publications in China, before returning stateside to continue my work as a newspaper editor and writer.
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