Madison Ranches reaches settlement in LUBGWMA lawsuit

PENDLETON – Another settlement has been reached in a lawsuit again several entities alleged to have helped cause nitrate pollution in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area.

A release from law firm Hagens Berman said Madison Ranches Inc., one of the defendants in the lawsuit, will pay $6.2 million into a settlement fund to assist homeowners affected by nitrate pollution in the area.

“Rather than fighting about who made the mess, Madison Ranches stepped up to help address the nitrate pollution problem,” said Steve Berman, managing partner and founder of Hagens Berman and co-counsel for the proposed class of plaintiffs.

As part of the settlement, Madison also agreed to use best management practices in the management of water it receives from the Port of Morrow. Those practices include measuring the application of all nitrogen-containing materials to its fields, conducting post-harvest soil nitrogen and nitrate testing, and engaging in robust crop rotation.

“These practices we have been employing go far beyond customary fertility management in this region, and provide us with near real-time data to make in-season changes and season-to-season changes in how we manage our fertility program,” said Jake Madison, president of Madison Ranches. “We have been involved in trying to find solutions to this issue for decades, and rather than continue to litigate, we chose to put our resources towards a solution.” 

This is the second settlement this year, following a $20.5 million settlement with Amazon Data Services this past spring.

“We will continue to prosecute the case against the other defendants who have deeper pockets – the Port of Morrow, Lamb Weston, Threemile Canyon Farms, Portland General Electric and Columbia River Processing,” Berman said.

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Elkhorn Media Group