WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. -- State officials are publishing a new report on groundwater pollution in northern Whatcom County – but they say there’s no cause for alarm.

Washington Department of Ecology Spokeswoman Katie Skipper says the new report simply puts the results of 30-years of studies all in the same place.



Skipper says research has shown the ‘Sumas-Blaine aquifer’ to have some of the worst nitrate contamination in the state.

Nearly a third of over 500 tested wells have nitrates above acceptable levels for drinking water, and 14 percent have twice that level.

Nitrates can be a health concern, especially for babies.