The list of issues voters should be interested in is a long one, and as events occur across our region the need for more oversight of local and state government by residents increases monthly.

A good example is a recent special report by the Oregon Capital Chronicle regarding how thousands of Oregonians near Boardman live near or on an aquifer that is contaminated by farming chemicals and unsafe to drink.

State officials apparently knew about the contamination for decades as did one of the sources of the contamination — the Port of Morrow — yet little was done about it.

The report outlined a dismal scenario where the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality knew about nitrate pollution in groundwater potentially put the health of a largely low-income, Latino population at risk. The report also outlined how very little was done to hold the port accountable except for fines and pacts that were violated.

That nitrates can and do infiltrate aquifers in an area where the main industry is agriculture isn’t a news flash. The groundwater in Morrow and Umatilla counties has been polluted with nitrates for a long time, and a majority of it comes from farms. Yet, for years the port illegally pumped wastewater containing nitrogen in excess of safe levels by the state from its industrial complex to area farms. The port’s excess disposal is alleged to have made the water even more contaminated.

The port already has been fined by the state and certainly there appears to be a realization by officials at the state and local level there is a problem. That’s a good sign, but the next big question is: Where do we go from here?

The area’s agriculture industry is a multimillion-dollar mechanism that powers the local economy. Suddenly shutting down farms isn’t practical, realistic or very sensible.

No, the port and state regulators who are supposed to keep a close watch on such issues, should be called to task on this issue and as soon as possible.

Moving forward, the state and port officials should be working in concert to discover how to avoid such a circumstance in the future. These discussions need to be public and the residents should have the opportunity to give input. The area’s state lawmakers also should get involved and questions for them should center on what they knew about the problem, how long they knew and what they are going to do to help solve the problem.