Amazon has agreed to pay $20.5 million to settle claims from residents in northeast Oregon over nitrate-contaminated groundwater, while denying any wrongdoing. The company is one of 17 defendants in a federal lawsuit filed by locals who say their well water has become unsafe to drink.
The contamination is tied to fertilizer-heavy wastewater from industrial food processors and data centers, which was spread over farmland and gradually seeped into groundwater. This water is also used in Amazon’s data centers to cool servers, a process that can further concentrate nitrates before it is reused.
Residents in Morrow and Umatilla counties—many of them low-income households—have relied on bottled water due to health risks linked to nitrate exposure, including cancer, thyroid disease, and risks to infants. Investigations found hundreds of wells exceeding safe nitrate levels, some by significant margins.
Amazon maintains that groundwater issues in the region existed long before its operations began, but chose to settle early to avoid a lengthy legal process and focus on community support.
The lawsuit is still ongoing against several other companies, with plaintiffs pushing for a large-scale cleanup program, long-term health monitoring, and potential class action status that could expand the case to thousands of affected residents.