GRANGER -- Isael and Monique Marines, who live just south of here, have been worrying lately about the quality of their water, which comes from a 150-foot-deep well.

The couple, along with about 40 others, came to a first-of-its-kind workshop Thursday night. State health officials at the workshop explained how residents can get their water tested and what they can do if the results show a problem.

"We're definitely going to go ahead with testing now," said Isael Marines, after talking with representatives of the state Department of Health. "Just seeing all those dots on the map convinced me."

Health officials put the maps on the walls of the community room at Radio KDNA to show various levels of nitrate and bacteria found in the aquifer that supplies water to thousands of Lower Yakima Valley residents who rely on private wells.

The Marineses, who have two small children, came to the Yakima Valley a little more than a year ago. But longtime residents turned out at the workshop, too, not for information but to scold government officials for ignoring their problems for so long.

"We've sampled and sampled and sampled and nobody goes after the source of the contamination," said Larry Fendell of Zillah. "We can't find anyone to give us hope that you'll find out where this is coming from."

While many Lower Valley residents are Latino farm workers, the workshop drew few Latinos despite regular announcements on Radio KDNA, the Spanish-language public radio station, and on-air interviews with health and environmental officials.

Teodora Martínez Chávez coordinates El Proyecto Bienestar -- the Well-Being Project -- a federally funded program to educate immigrant farm workers about environmental health. She said many families don't seek help for familiar reasons.

"They're afraid of the attitudes they may receive or the language barrier," she said. "And a lot are renting or staying at places that belong to their employers, so they're afraid of what might happen to them if they get their water tested without their permission."

Francisco Rios, the station's news director, said radio can do only so much.

"Despite all the efforts we've made here to keep our community informed about the water contamination and so many other issues, it's up to the community to be willing to receive that information," Rios said.

Emma Bueno and Leopoldo Mendoza left the meeting with more questions than answers. The couple tested their well water when they moved to a Sunnyside-area house about two years ago, and found it was undrinkable. They spend about $20 a month on bottled water.

"It's just more money that we have to spend," Bueno said. "What I'm still unclear about is whether I can use the water for cooking, or if we should be using bottled water for that."

Her husband wondered if there was financial assistance for homeowners with contaminated well water to purchase filtration systems.

"I've been asking around," he said in Spanish. "Are there programs for people like us? Nobody here seems to know."

The state Department of Ecology had a sign-up sheet for low-income people to get assistance in testing for bacteria. A similar program for nitrate is under discussion.

Although testing was the immediate goal of the workshop, some residents wanted to know if the entire aquifer is contaminated, which would make digging a deeper well an ineffective -- not to mention expensive -- solution.

More groundwater monitoring would have to take place to assess the health of both shallow and deeper aquifers, officials said. At least one person suggested that should have been done a long time ago.

"I'm going to be a little argumentative here," said Helen Reddout, a Granger orchardist and president of Community for Restoration of the Environment (CARE.)

"We've got studies back to 1972. Agencies have known the dangers. Why aren't we talking about action?"

Ginny Stern, a hydro-geologist with the Department of Health, said the problem is not limited to shallow wells. Definitions of shallow vary from 125 to 300 feet deep.

Stern also conceded that the government response to groundwater contamination -- which was confirmed at least a decade ago -- has been slow.

"Hopefully, this is the beginning of a different level of response," Stern said.

Local, state, federal and tribal agencies began meeting about groundwater contamination in December, prompted by a series of stories last fall in the Yakima Herald-Republic.

The series -- Hidden Wells, Dirty Water -- found the problem had been ignored for years, leaving thousands of mostly low-income, Latino rural residents vulnerable to the potential health hazards of drinking contaminated water.

The agencies, led by the Environmental Protection Agency, are considering a variety of approaches, ranging from identifying sources of pollution to stronger enforcement to building water systems.

A final report outlining recommendations and priorities could be ready by the end of next month.

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com