Three Oregon families have filed lawsuits seeking $78 million from Knife River Corp., claiming that the mining giant’s sand and gravel operations in central Oregon have dangerously contaminated their groundwater.
Ashley and Michael McCormick, Julie and Joseph Thompson, and Bryan and Brenda Zednik say they have suffered concerning health problems like autoimmune disorders, stomach pain and skin rashes so painful they can’t sleep. They also report fatal tumors in their dogs, stillborn livestock or young farm animals with such “extreme deformities” that the creatures live “short excruciating lives.”
All of the plaintiffs allege that careless mining operations by Knife River have caused heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, manganese and aluminum to leach into the water that they draw from their wells. That, they say, has made living in their dream homes “a nightmare” and continuing to make a livelihood off their land difficult to impossible.
“Knife River’s desire to become a leader in the aggregate industry forever changed the valley north of Prineville, Oregon,” says each of the lawsuits, which were filed last week.
In an email Friday, Knife River spokesperson Tony Spilde said the tests show that metals in the groundwater are naturally occurring and that the company’s mining of the site over roughly the past decade hasn’t contaminated the water.
“We all face the same issue in Crook County: Pockets of groundwater have naturally occurring metals,” Spilde said. “None of us caused this. We absolutely understand wanting to find the source, and the science points to it being volcanic activity that predates all of us.”
Each of the plaintiffs live about six miles north of Prineville and within a mile of what their lawsuits describe as “Woodward Pit” and Knife River refers to as the “Woodward Site.”
The suits state that the plaintiffs since 2021 each were puzzled by a series of water-related problems, until they learned neighbors were experiencing them, too. The McCormicks, Thompsons and Zedniks say they experienced clogged pipes, dishwashers and washing machines that stopped working and black sludge in their toilet tanks.
They also attribute human, pet and livestock health problems to the water. The McCormicks say their three children now bathe at the home of their grandparents in order to avoid skin rashes.
With approximately 100 homes in the immediate region, more lawsuits could come.
Last week’s lawsuits allege that residents objected to Knife River’s plan to extract sand and gravel from the area in 2015. But Crook County approved the mine, issuing a conditional use permit.
The suits claim Knife River violated its permit in multiple ways, including by allegedly discharging water that was used to wash sand and gravel and water that “had been exposed to mining and quarrying activities” into an irrigation canal. The suits say the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality slapped Knife River with a $20,822 civil penalty.
Though the mine and plaintiffs’ homes are located about 150 miles southeast of Portland, all three of the lawsuits were filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by Portland attorneys Steve Larson and Chloe Jasper. The suits say that’s within the civil court system’s rules because Knife River conducts business in Multnomah County.
Knife River’s website says the company operates in 15 states and is the fifth largest producer of sand and gravel in the United States.
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