Do you prefer nitrates in your drinking water?

[Mister_Man]

I was researching the effect of Iowa farm runoff and the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexi..America and found this gem updated a week ago. Floridians should also be concerned with the pollution of nitrates from the sugar cane farms.

Increasing use of nitrogen-based fertilizer over the last half-century is putting Americans' health at risk. Excess nitrate in drinking water increases the risk of cancer, birth defects and thyroid disease.

The Environmental Protection Agency limits how much nitrate can be present in drinking water: a maximum of 10 milligrams per liter. But growing research ties serious health risks to nitrate levels far below that federal limit.

The EPA has spent more than two decades urging states to contain the runoff from Midwest farms that flows into rivers, sources for drinking water, and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. There, the pollution contributes to a dead zone where fish and other wildlife can't survive.

It's a critical concern in Iowa, which has one of the highest rates of nitrate pollution in the United States. Iowa also has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Studies have linked high nitrate levels in Iowa water to kidney, bladder, thyroid, and other cancers.

https://www.npr.org/2024/12/17/nx-s1-5226050/iowa-backs-an-industry-friendly-fix-for-farm-pollution-despite-weak-results#:~:text=It's%20a%20critical%20concern%20in,%2C%20thyroid%2C%20and%20other%20cancers.

 

[BlIIlken2]

If I can’t chew my water I’m not drinking it

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Clearly we need fewer regulations.

The free market would never allow this to happen.

 

[uihawk82]

Iowa's water is getting worse and worse, not only nitrates from fertilizer but urine and shit runoff from animal confinement farming is getting into the water. And this animal excrement is spread on fields

 

[seminole97]

Clearly we need fewer regulations.

The free market would never allow this to happen.

Can a Florida fisherman sue an Iowa farmer for poisoning the water, if not, why not?
Do the existing regulations provide a platform for the injured to seek redress, or do they protect the polluters?

 

[NorthEndzoneCrew]

If the Gov is serious about tackling cancer in this state, she should probably look at our water and all the Ag contaminates in it.

That would do a lot more than insinuating the state drinks too much, which is rich coming from her.

 

[Thunderlips71]

Bienvenido a Iowa: don’t drink the water!

 

[Mister_Man]

Clearly we need fewer regulations.

The free market would never allow this to happen.

Joni on the Supreme Court rollback on federal clean water act

DES MOINES, Iowa (KTIV) - Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the federal government’s authority to police water pollution in certain wetlands. By a 5-to-4 vote, the justices ruled in favor of an Idaho couple.

“I am grateful for this decision from the Supreme Court of the United States, I have been battling WOTUS-- the Waters of the US-- ever since it was put into play in the Obama administration,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, (R) Iowa. “This rule, especially the one put into place by President Obama and then doubled down on by President Biden, it would limit the opportunity for Iowans to decide how they use their land. Just for example, if you want to build a single family dwelling, you’d have to actually go get a permit from the federal government to do that under the rule that was put into place by President Obama. Unbelievable that that regulation would regulate over 97% of Iowa land. Not water, land.”

 

[Mister_Man]

James Berge remembers when the water near his house used to be clean. But in recent years when the lifetime resident of rural Iowa walks down to the water, “it’s filled with algae and brown,” he says. “I wouldn’t even eat a fish out of these rivers.” An explosion of hog farms, lax regulations and a drought are behind the pollution. In short, Iowa has a water problem, and the Supreme Court’s decision last year to roll back Clean Water Act protections could make things worse. But a coalition of lawmakers and advocates hope that a new proposed state law, the Clean Water for Iowa Act, could make a difference.

The Supreme Court Rolled Back Clean Water Protections, but Some Iowans Are Fighting Back

A proposed state law would help the state tighten its control over pollution from factory farms.

sentientmedia.org

 

[OutbackBowl2017]

Hooray for Ames. That SOB Jimmy McGill gets the benefit of all that good water.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

They should rescind Norman Borlaug's Nobel Peace Prize and blow off the estimated one billion lives he saved, they were mostly brown people after all...

Norman Borlaug - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[5545]

Can a Florida fisherman sue an Iowa farmer for poisoning the water, if not, why not?
Do the existing regulations provide a platform for the injured to seek redress, or do they protect the polluters?

Correct.

Clearly we need fewer regulations.

The free market would never allow this to happen.

A free market and private property rights would provide a mechanism for addressing this.

I think we're on the same side on this issue, though. The pollution is grotesque, and the fact that I'm forced to subsidize farmers to ruin our air, land, and water while producing poison (high fructose corn syrup or sugar) is reprehensible.

 

[runkpanole]

Florida shares in plenty of blame for bad water quality. Excessive fertilizer and inadequate oversight of onsite sewers helps give awesome nitrogen to our waterways.

 

[HawkinK.C.1]

It's not just farmers. Most lawns in the city are on a regular fertilizer schedule as well.

 

[Kelsers]

It's not just farmers. Most lawns in the city are on a regular fertilizer schedule as well.

That's a drop in the bucket.

 

[Pinehawk]

That's a drop in the bucket.

Not really. It’s a significant piece of the puzzle as well.

 

[Kelsers]

Not really. It’s a significant piece of the puzzle as well.

Not really. It's a piece but not significant. All the field tiling done the past 15 years is the primary culprit. Farmers used to just tile areas that had drainage problems. Now it's common pretty much anywhere on a field.

 

[Pinehawk]

I agree field tiling is a huge contributor. But, so is excessive fertilizer use in cities.
Runoff goes directly into storm drains and you can see high nitrate levels downstream of big cities.
Not excusing either one, just pointing out it’s not coming from a single source.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

A focus on creating more marsh land would make a major difference. Part of the reason we see what we see is farmers have become SO efficient getting water off thier land to make more plowable.

 

[Ghee Buttersnaps]

As long as my water taste like a garden hose from my childhood, I'm good with it.

 

[jasonrann]

Meh, big deal.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

James Berge remembers when the water near his house used to be clean. But in recent years when the lifetime resident of rural Iowa walks down to the water, “it’s filled with algae and brown,” he says. “I wouldn’t even eat a fish out of these rivers.” An explosion of hog farms, lax regulations and a drought are behind the pollution. In short, Iowa has a water problem, and the Supreme Court’s decision last year to roll back Clean Water Act protections could make things worse. But a coalition of lawmakers and advocates hope that a new proposed state law, the Clean Water for Iowa Act, could make a difference.

The Supreme Court Rolled Back Clean Water Protections, but Some Iowans Are Fighting Back

A proposed state law would help the state tighten its control over pollution from factory farms.

sentientmedia.org

Will this Supreme Court go down as the worst ever? It has some stiff competition, but it sure is trying.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

I assume everyone is ok with the government paying the cost of farmers planting cover crops after harvest to help eliminate the problem…

 

[FranklinHawk]

I prefer barley and hops, but maybe that's just me.

 

[seminole97]

I assume everyone is ok with the government paying the cost of farmers planting cover crops after harvest to help eliminate the problem…

Why is everyone else responsible for taking care of the farmer's capital (his land)?

The solution is forbid the farmers from polluting.

 

[Kelsers]

I assume everyone is ok with the government paying the cost of farmers planting cover crops after harvest to help eliminate the problem…

That won't eliminate the problem, but there probably should be an incentive to plant cover crops to help with soil erosion too.

 

[Tiny Hands Trump]

I assume everyone is ok with the government paying the cost of farmers planting cover crops after harvest to help eliminate the problem…

The farmers won't be as they oppose socialism. It is why none of them take money from the government.