AP News. (2022, June 11). Oregon county declares emergency over water contamination. Retrieved August 28, 2022 from https://apnews.com/article/oregon-government-and-politics-climate-environment-water-management-quality-91be0b5b086a483b7810041ddfbd8ace

 

Last month, Morrow County, Oregon declared a local state of emergency after high levels of nitrate contamination were found in wells and tap water in the area. Drinking water contaminated with nitrate is dangerous because it can cause respiratory infections, thyroid dysfunction, and increased risk of stomach and bladder cancers. Nitrate contamination can be especially dangerous for babies, as it decreases the blood’s ability to carry oxygen, resulting in a blue coloring, called “blue baby syndrome”. Increased nitrate levels are often a result of contamination from fertilizers, and the company Port of Morrow was recently fined $1.3 million for dumping nitrogen-rich wastewater onto the ground and not monitoring nitrate levels. For now, residents have been drinking boiled or bottled water while the government attempts to fix the crisis. 

 

To me, this article illustrated the harmful effects that companies can have when they don’t prioritize environmental impact. Although the government had fined them earlier this year, they didn’t do it early enough and the general population felt the impacts. However, it’s encouraging that the county has declared a state of emergency, and I hope that this declaration will give them the funding and drive necessary to fix the immediate problem. In the end, it’s much easier to prevent the problem from happening in the first place than having to solve it afterwards, but it seems like they are dealing with the problem as best as they can for now. This article relates to environmental science as it underscores how things that negatively affect the ecosystem, like increased nitrate levels, also affect humans, illustrating how interconnected and interdependent we are, which is one of the key philosophies of environmental science.