When dangerous nitrate levels in Morrow County’s drinking water plunged the area into a crisis, Oregon’s largest mega-dairy, Threemile Canyon Farms, and its processor, the Tillamook Creamery Association, were quick to step in with offers of financial assistance.

But while their efforts may help with immediate water needs in Boardman, these companies are part of the problem. Waste from dairy and beef cattle like the 69,000 housed at Threemile Canyon’s facilities generated a significant amount of the nitrogen that fouled groundwater in the Lower Umatilla Basin.

The only way to truly protect Morrow County’s groundwater and aquifers is to address nitrate contamination at its source: mega-dairies and other factory farms.

The Stand Up to Factory Farms coalition urged the EPA more than two years ago to address nitrate levels in Eastern Oregon’s Lower Umatilla Basin that were already exceeding federal and state safety standards. We’ve known the danger for decades. And in 2015, Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality found nearly half of the groundwater wells sampled had hazardous levels of nitrates. Test wells on Threemile Canyon Farms’ land have shown nitrate levels above state-established guidelines for health.

Cows in the Lower Umatilla Basin produced 4.3 billion pounds of manure in 2019, 516 times more than the waste produced by the area’s human population. And according to Oregon agencies, CAFOs are the largest source of nitrates in the Lower Umatilla Basin.

Mega-dairies like Threemile Canyon have been increasingly relying on digesters to greenwash their waste problem and capture methane that can be sold to energy companies as “clean” fuel. But digesters rely on continued use of massive “lagoons” that are prone to leaks and leaching into groundwater. A digester spill in 2019 sent more than 300,000 gallons of manure into the Tillamook River.

Despite an advertising campaign projecting images of pasture-based cows and small farms, Tillamook has a troubled history of partnering with mega-dairies responsible for widespread water and air contamination. The company worked to conceal its contract with the disgraced Lost Valley Farms Dairy, which chalked up 200 environmental violations and jeopardized 81 water systems.

Today, Tillamook maintains contracts with Threemile Canyon. Yet earlier in the year, Threemile Canyon faced sharp criticism when it was revealed its onsite digester had been violating Oregon’s air quality laws for more than a year even as the company received “green” credits from a California low carbon fuels program.

If Threemile Canyon Farms were serious about helping Eastern Oregonians in this crisis, it would stop threatening drinking water with its dangerous waste management practices. If Tillamook wanted to commit resources to providing fresh water for people, it would stop buying milk from mega-dairies. And if Oregon’s lawmakers were serious about safeguarding groundwater and aquifers in this megadrought, they would institute a mega-dairy moratorium and stop these facilities from polluting our climate and water resources.

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