A federal judge on December 18 granted a request by the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to require three Lower Yakima Valley dairies to provide well testing and bottled water or water treatment systems to well users near Granger, Washington.
The 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 the 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 the EPA’s approval of a plan.
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.
On June 26, the DOJ filed a lawsuit on behalf of the 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. The DOJ asked the court to order the dairies to immediately test downgradient wells and provide alternative water to impacted residents.
In the December 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.
NGWA has published a best suggested practice titled Reducing Problematic Concentrations of Nitrates in Residential Water Well Systems. BSPs are free to members of NGWA.