Announcement • Jun 09
Judge Denies Motions to Dismiss Groundwater Contamination Lawsuit Against Port of Morrow, Lamb Weston, Portland General Electric, Columbia River Processing, Madison Ranches, and Threemile Canyon A federal judge denied motions to dismiss a class-action lawsuit accusing the Port of Morrow, commercial farms and operators of contaminating groundwater in Oregon’s Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area (LUBGWMA), according to attorneys at Hagens Berman and co-counsel Bliven Law Firm and Heenan & Cook. The ruling, issued June 5, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon of the District of Oregon, greenlights claims under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Oregon state law against defendants Port of Morrow, Lamb Weston, Portland General Electric, Columbia River Processing, Madison Ranches and Threemile Canyon Farms. The court has scheduled a three-week jury trial to begin May 3, 2027. According to the lawsuit, the Port of Morrow operates an industrial wastewater treatment facility whose tenants — including Lamb Weston, Portland General Electric and Columbia River Processing — generate nitrogen-rich wastewater that they send to the Port for disposal. The Port pumps wastewater to local farmland in quantities allegedly exceeding what crops can absorb and during the non-growing winter months, according to the lawsuit. This runoff renders local drinking water unsafe for upwards of 45,000 residents, according to the lawsuit, and nitrate contamination can potentially lead to serious health problems, especially for children. The Port has been publicly cited and fined for repeatedly violating its Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) discharge permit since at least 2007. The ruling allows claims under the federal RCRA and Oregon law to proceed, including claims for negligence, trespass and nuisance. The court also allowed plaintiffs’ request for the remedy of medical monitoring to proceed under both federal and Oregon law, aimed at promoting early detection and treatment of diseases linked to excess nitrate exposure. Hagens Berman and co-counsel previously announced a $20.5 million settlement reached with Amazon Data Services over similar allegations arising from its data center operations in the region. That settlement is currently pending court approval. The LUBGWMA encompasses 562 square miles in northern Morrow and Umatilla counties, and thousands of residents with private wells face nitrate-contaminated tap water so severely polluted that it is unsafe to drink, forcing them to rely on bottled water. At elevated levels, nitrates can cause birth defects, cellular damage and cancer, and infants face a potentially fatal condition in which nitrate consumption prevents the blood from carrying oxygen. POR
Live News • Jun 06
Oregon Approves PGE Tariff Boosting Data Center Rates and Cutting Residential Costs Oregon regulators approved Portland General Electric’s new large-load tariff framework that targets data centers with usage above 20 MW.
Under the framework, PGE is seeking a 29% rate increase for these large-load data center customers, paired with proposed rate reductions for residential, small business and other commercial and industrial users.
The new rules tie large-load interconnections to long-term contracts, customer-funded distribution upgrades and specific clean energy requirements, while PGE also advanced a supplemental Recreation Resources Management Plan for its Clackamas River Hydroelectric Project.
The key takeaway is that large energy users such as data centers are being asked to shoulder more of the grid costs and clean energy obligations, which could influence PGE’s capital planning and customer mix over time.
For you as an investor, the main considerations are how reliably these higher data center tariffs can be implemented, and whether any pushback from large customers or future regulatory adjustments could change the balance between industrial and retail rate levels.