PRINEVILLE, OR -- Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR-D) continues to push state agencies to act on manganese contamination found in Crook County wells. The Oregon Democrat recently met with impacted homeowners who told him water runoff from a nearby gravel mine flows into an unlined pit, "Which makes it very easy for it to move through the groundwater. And, because there is a lot of sand and gravel in the ground underneath the surface soil, you see how credible and possible it is that the contamination is coming from that unlined pit and then affecting these nearby wells."

Merkley visited two affected homes, "They gave me a tour. They showed me the sludge that’s in the tank behind the toilets. I reached in and there was maybe 3/8” of black sludge." He tells KBND News, "That sludge has, in some cases, blocked pipes and really cut off the water pressure. Other folks have spent thousands and thousands of dollars for expensive machinery to try to protect the quality of water for their personal health."

Merkley says during the visit he talked to a Crook County rancher, "A small rancher - he’d ended his ranching activity because of his concern over the quality of the meat that would be sold into the market if the cattle were contaminated." Adding, "And another parent, a mother provided pictures of the rashes her children were experiencing after bathing in this contaminated water." 

He says the mining operation claims the heavy-metal conamination is from drought conditions, but Merkley doesn't buy it, "This is what they’re experiencing that wasn’t there before the gravel mine opened."

Mining operations are regulated by the state. Merkley wants state agencies to test the runoff water at the gravel mine and create a map of affected wells. He says homeowners have, "A lot of concerns about the resale value of their homes having been destroyed. And huge frustration that they’re not getting faster action from state agencies."

Photo: Sen. Jeff Merkley hosts a town hall at Crook County Middle School, June 9, 2024, after touring homes impacted by contaminated well water.