Federal Judge Thomas O. Rice granted a request on December 18, 2024, by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to require three Lower Yakima Valley dairies to provide well testing and bottled water or water treatment systems to well users near Granger, Washington.
EPA believes the health of people in the area could be at risk from nitrate-polluted drinking water and alleges that three large dairies in that area have contributed nitrate to the area’s groundwater and contaminated drinking water wells.
The EPA is urging nearby residents to visit EPA’s Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater webpage to learn whether their well is in the area affected by the ruling and to accept upcoming offers for well testing.
To comply with the court’s order, the dairies must submit a plan for testing residential wells within 30 days and complete the testing within 60 days of EPA’s approval of a plan. People can also call the EPA hotline at 509-204-1941 or 888-508-6344 for more information.
What is nitrate?
Nitrate is an acute contaminant. A single exposure can pose health risks, including a condition in infants known as methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome,” that can result in death. Nitrate exposure can also cause other health effects. People who are pregnant or have other health concerns are also at high risk.
Contamination from dairies
On June 26, 2024, DOJ filed a lawsuit on behalf of EPA in federal court alleging the three dairies have failed to adequately control nitrate contamination from their operations and are potentially endangering the health of people located downgradient of the dairies. DOJ asked the court to order the dairies to immediately test downgradient wells and provide alternative water to impacted residents.
In the ruling, the court ordered the dairies to test drinking water wells in an area up to 3.5 miles downgradient of the dairies and to provide and maintain reverse-osmosis water treatment systems or bottled water to homes where this testing finds nitrate levels above 10 milligrams per liter. The court also ordered the dairies to immediately conduct groundwater monitoring and test a lined lagoon for leaks.
The ruling does not conclude the legal action against the dairies.
EPA and DOJ also seek to address the risk to downgradient residents from the dairies’ ongoing contamination of area groundwater with nitrate and to resolve the dairies’ failure to comply with outstanding requirements of their 2013 agreement with EPA.
“Everyone deserves access to clean, safe drinking water,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref in a press release. “My office is committed to protecting the health and safety of all Washington residents. Strong and fair enforcement of public health and environmental laws protect our families and make our region safer and stronger.”
“EPA is committed to continuing its work with public health agencies, community groups, and the agriculture industry to address the complex public health challenges of legacy and ongoing nitrate contamination in the Lower Yakima Valley,” said Dan Opalski, deputy regional ddministrator for EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle, in a press release.
Even with the work that the court is ordering the dairies to perform, more work is necessary to address nitrate contamination in underground sources of drinking water throughout the Lower Yakima Valley, on which thousands of people rely.
