Oregon Residents Have Been Boiling Drinking Water for a Year

A small town in Oregon has been under a boil-water notice for a year after bacteria was found in the water supply.

Jewell, which is about an hour northwest of Portland, has a population of 1,403—all of whom haven't been able to safely use the water from their taps since last December when the water tested positive for E. coli.

More than a year later and the water hasn't been treated, according to the Clatsop County Health Department. Newsweek reached out to Clatsop County Environmental Health via email for comment.

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) told Newsweek via email on Thursday: "A water system inspection was conducted in March 2023. Several deficiencies identified remain unresolved."

"I pretty much don't use this water at all, and if I have to use it, it's bleach city," one Jewell resident who wished to remain anonymous told local Fox affiliate KPTV. "I've broken out on my hands, on my face, when I didn't realize what was going on. I could actually taste it in my mouth."

Locals have tried to take matters into their own hands to get clean water.

The property that the pump house and well are on has new owners, Jennifer and Sam Lynch, but Tony Cavin still has control over the well.

"We've called the county, we've called the state, we've called the water master, we've talked to a lawyer, we've just tried to push this in any direction we can to get the state to enforce the regulations that need to be done so that there's clean water," Jennifer Lynch told KPTV on Wednesday.

"What we're hoping is that the state will enforce the fines that he should've had already because there's tons that have accrued but no one's enforcing them. How can there be no repercussions for a community with 47 houses that you're providing E. coli-infested water?"

OHA told Newsweek: "Ownership of the water system has transferred to a new owner. There may be a dispute with the former and current owner/operators.

"The county and Drinking Water Services are ready to work with the new owner on steps needed to ensure safe drinking water, including sampling and communicating advisory status to customers. Drinking Water Services will review the existing enforcement action to determine whether assessing civil penalties is appropriate.

"The Public Utility Commission has been contacted about the situation."

The environmental health supervisor, Lucas Marshall, said that the locals are being "held hostage" by Cavin.

"I believe it's fairly unusual because our state partners have also had some difficulties with this situation, it's not something where we have precedents or a map to follow regarding situations like this," Marshall told KPTV. "The community is being held hostage by an operator that will not make the corrective actions to improve the water quality, and make sure that the water is safe, but is also not stepping aside and allowing for another operator to come in and get the system back online."

While multiple residents told the station that Cavin posted a test showing the water to be free of E. coli in the community Facebook group recently, the boil-water notice is still in effect and their water is still yellow.

OHA representatives from said that Cavin posted the boil-water notice on social media when it went into effect and said that the notice had also been distributed to customers. However, residents told KPTV that they did not know about the notice until a few months after it went into effect.

It went into effect on December 15, 2022, the OHA told Newsweek.

Update 12/28/23, 5:10 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the OHA.