Knife River VP of its South Central Division, Chris Doan, and Technical Services Manager Matt Ropp tour the Woodward site on April 12, 2023.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
More neighbors of a Knife River gravel and sand mining site in rural Crook County filed lawsuits against the multi-billion-dollar construction materials company last week, alleging that its mining practices polluted the aquifer feeding their home wells, causing years of worsening health problems for both people and animals.
In separate lawsuits filed last week, two couples, Julie and Joseph Thompson and Bryan and Brenda Zednik, claim that around 2021, their properties started experiencing similar issues – black sludge clinging to sinks and toilets, rashes after bathing, and unexplained livestock deaths.
Their lawsuits come on the heels of a similar complaint filed days earlier by the McCormick family.
Representatives for Knife River have denied that the company’s operations, which state records show began in 2016, caused lead, manganese, arsenic, aluminum and other contaminants to pollute the groundwater. Knife River spokesperson Tony Spilde said the water quality problems instead stem from the region’s “unique volcanic legacy.”
The three families, according to their separate suits, all live less than a mile from the mining site, rely on the same groundwater source, and are represented by the same legal team, led by attorney Rick Paul.
Taken together, the complaints are seeking $78 million in damages, asking that no further mining occur, and that Knife River provides clean, potable water to nearby residents while paying for medical monitoring.
State testing published last month analyzed 58 wells in the area and found that nearly all have unhealthy levels of contaminants, echoing results from earlier sampling by residents and OPB in a 2023 investigation.
Brenda Zednik and her husband, Bryan, were each diagnosed with autoimmune disorders over the last five years, according to their complaint. They also, the complaint states, lost income due to stillborn calves, chickens that stopped walking properly and laying as many viable eggs, and fatal tumors in two dogs.
The Thompsons’ claim states that the couple has experienced health issues, allegedly from the water, and that they have lost goats to “gruesome” deaths.
State officials said they have not determined the cause of the contamination, but have paused a permitting process for Knife River’s requested expansion of their mining operations to a neighboring site while groundwater testing continues.
When reached last week, Paul said he is continuing to talk to people who live in the area and suspects that more people will be filing suit against the company.
“We are talking to other residents in the area, and so I suspect there will be more that will be filing suit shortly,” Paul said. “We’ll probably just ask the court to consolidate a variety of complaints.”
