Amazon Data Center Expansion Exacerbates Water Pollution Crisis in Rural Oregon

A worsening water contamination crisis in rural Oregon has been linked to the rapid expansion of Amazon data centers in the region. The county’s Lower Umatilla Basin aquifer, the primary water source for thousands of residents, is now experiencing dangerously high nitrate levels, raising serious public health concerns.

The problem is longstanding, with fertilizer runoff from industrial agriculture already contaminating the groundwater for decades. Amazon’s data centers, which use millions of gallons of aquifer water annually for cooling, have intensified the issue. Wastewater from the facilities, still laden with nitrates, is sprayed on farmland at the Port of Morrow, accelerating the pollution cycle and driving nitrate levels even higher.

Health risks from high nitrate exposure include cancers, thyroid disease, and “blue baby syndrome” in infants. Informal tests conducted in 2022 found that nearly all private wells in the area exceeded federal safety limits. Residents have reported clusters of miscarriages, kidney failure, and cancer, prompting former county commissioner Jim Doherty to declare a local state of emergency and provide bottled water and filtration systems.

The crisis has sparked political tension. Doherty and a fellow commissioner were later removed from office following a recall campaign backed by powerful local agricultural interests. Advocacy groups have drawn parallels to the Flint, Michigan water crisis, highlighting the vulnerability of communities with little political or economic power.

Officials and environmental advocates warn that without immediate intervention, the contamination cycle will continue, threatening both public health and the region’s long-term water security.