For the last five years, Ashley McCormick and her family have experienced worsening water quality at their home north of Prineville, where recent state testing revealed contaminants linked to serious health problems.

This week, the family waged a lawsuit alleging that one of the largest construction materials companies in the Pacific Northwest is responsible for polluting groundwater and turning what was once the McCormicks’ “dream home” into “a nightmare they could not escape.”

What started as black sludge coating toilets, bathtubs and pipes in 2021 has become a concerning health issue for the family of five, states the complaint filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on July 7.

The family’s property is less than a mile from a Knife River sand and gravel mine that’s faced years of scrutiny from local residents, regulators and lawmakers over its practices and possible permit violations, a 2023 OPB investigation found.

The company is seeking more state and local permits to expand its operations in the area, but those applications are on hold until the state reviews additional groundwater data collection and analysis, said Alex Lopez, public affairs coordinator with Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.

The McCormicks’ lawsuit alleges that toxic chemicals entered the aquifer through Knife River’s processes for digging up sand and gravel and its use of unlined ponds to store wastewater.

Knife River officials have consistently denied responsibility for polluting groundwater. Instead, representatives of the company point to the natural makeup of the land as the source of contaminants confirmed by state testing last year.

“We absolutely understand wanting to find the source, and the science points to it being volcanic activity that predates all of us,” Tony Spilde, vice-president of communications at Knife River, wrote in an email to OPB.

McCormick’s attorney, Richard Paul, said that the science leads in a different direction and his firm is continuing to talk with many nearby residents.

The McCormicks are one of dozens of families in the area whose well water has tested at or above public health guidelines for heavy metals, like manganese and lead.

Lead poisoning can have lifelong health impacts. Exposure to concentrated amounts of manganese can cause health problems like liver disease and impact brain development in children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Ashley McCormick is a local realtor and mother of three who joined dozens of her neighbors in raising alarms about water pollution in 2023. She declined to comment on her family’s pending lawsuit.

Recent blood tests show McCormick is at heightened risk of liver disease, despite not drinking alcohol and living a healthy lifestyle, according to the complaint.

Last month, the Oregon Health Authority released an analysis highlighting health risks to local residents, based on recent well water testing in the valley north of Prineville where the McCormicks live. Nearly half of the tested wells had detectable levels of lead, the OHA report states.

In nearly all of the wells the state sampled last spring — 55 of the 58 — arsenic levels were higher than the two micrograms per liter of water – an amount associated with increased risk of cancer and lesions if consumed for a year or more, according to the study.

The state found manganese, nitrates, and copper in dozens of well water samples, too. The findings align with previous testing done by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and independent tests commissioned by residents and by OPB in 2023.

State health regulators did not identify a possible cause of the contaminants in their report from last month.

Knife River spokesman Spilde said the company’s own third-party testing “consistently indicates that water quality has not been negatively impacted” by its operations.

“We want to be good neighbors and will continue to go the extra mile to sample and test and stand behind the science that shows we are not impacting the groundwater,” Spilde said.

Knife River is a multibillion-dollar company with tens of millions in state contracts to provide construction services along with construction materials like sand, gravel and concrete for public projects in Oregon.

McCormick’s attorney Paul said his firm investigated the Crook County water problems closely before filing the suit, which seeks over $25 million in damages. Paul has partnered with Perfected Claims, a legal advocacy organization known for challenging major corporations and working with famed safe drinking water activist Erin Brockovich.

“We have been looking at this for quite a while and doing some of our own investigation and testing and talking to lots of people,” Paul said.

Knife River said the Woodward site has not been operational since late 2025, but the lawsuit disputes that.

The company’s land-use permit for the site is under review by Crook County officials following complaints earlier this year by residents. The county is considering revoking or modifying the permit and public hearing about that is scheduled for July 29. Meanwhile, Knife River’s application to expand operations to a neighboring site is on pause pending more groundwater testing, DOGAMI spokesperson Lopez said.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/07/09/unsafe-water-central-oregon-family-sues-knife-river-mining/