Residents in the Lower Yakima Valley whose wells may have been polluted by nitrates have access to free testing and water filters, thanks to a Washington nonprofit. 

Industrial dairies in the area housing hundreds of thousands of cows produce massive piles of manure, and when that waste is not disposed of properly, it can leech nitrate pollution into nearby wells. 

“People don’t know there’s a problem, right? You could be drinking excess nitrates and have no idea that there’s any issue,” said Amy van Saun, a board member for the Clean Drinking Water Project, which uses settlements from lawsuits leveled at these dairies to pay for testing and water filtration for local residents. “That’s why we urge people to give us a call, give us an email, and we can get your water tested.” 

Many wells in the Lower Yakima Valley have tested much higher than the safe limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Van Saun said excess nitrates in the body are linked to reproductive and thyroid issues, as well as cancer. Residents can visit cleandrinkingwaterproject.org for free testing information. 

Van Saun said many residents of the Lower Yakima Valley are working class and Hispanic, and the impacts from pollution they are facing echo a pattern of environmental racism. 

“We see this all over the country,” she said, “that communities of color, Indigenous communities, are the sort of sacrifice zone for this and other industrial pollution.” 

Van Saun said if someone suspects their well might be contaminated with nitrates, they shouldn’t rely on store-bought test strips, as they are not accurate. So far, the Clean Drinking Water Project has helped at least 150 homes access clean water, but van Saun said there could still be hundreds more in the area. 

This story was originally published by Washington News Service, a bureau of Public News Service, a national newswire with a local focus with state-level, public interest news.