Heraldtribune.com
Driving the 'dead
zone'
Congress should explore
link between ethanol, Gulf pollution
Last modified: July 25. 2007 12:00AM
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070725/OPINION/707250694/1030/OPINION01
The Pew Oceans Commission issued a report five
years ago saying farm runoff is the main source of pollution in oceans and
the Gulf of Mexico. Recent evidence shows the problem has only grown worse.
As the commission noted, nitrogen and phosphorus from farm and residential
fertilizers run off into streams and rivers and are carried to the sea.
There, the nutrients feed the growth of algae, which consume oxygen needed
by fish and other marine life. The result can be a barren "dead
zone" from which fish flee and in which bottom dwellers perish.
One such dead zone is in the northwestern Gulf off Louisiana and Texas. Last
week, a group of scientists said they believe the zone will grow larger this
summer than it's been since first measured in 1985. How big? About 8,500
square miles, roughly the size of New Jersey, say scientists at Louisiana
State University, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The expanding dead zone might be an unforeseen consequence of the push to
develop corn-based ethanol, the scientists say. Congress should investigate
and consider federal policy on ethanol and more effective controls of
agricultural runoff.
As an example, Congress could look to the Sarasota County Commission, which
proposes to reduce residential fertilizer runoff into local waterways and
the Gulf.
Algal growth in the northwestern Gulf is fueled largely by nutrients carried
south by the Mississippi River from the Midwest.
The Midwest is undergoing a boom in growing corn, a primary source of
ethanol. A bigger crop requires more fertilizer and, it appears, that leads
to more pollution.
Alternative fuel sources are a vital need but, in promoting ethanol,
policymakers should carefully weigh the potential impact on the oceans and
coastal waters.