Nov. 15 on The Story: As many as 12,000 people in eastern Oregon are in danger of drinking polluted water, drawn up from beneath the Lower Umatilla Basin through private wells. The groundwater used to be safe for humans, but heavy commercial farming and food production have caused nitrates to leach into the aquifer below the basin, building up to dangerous levels over time. It seems like a situation where residents should be able to rely on Oregon's government to protect their water. But for more than 30 years, the state's regulatory agencies have done little more than wring their hands — and the problem has only gotten worse in the meantime. Watch more The Story videos: http://bit.ly/watchTheStory Follow The Story on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheStoryKGW Follow The Story on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thestorykgw