Pros and cons of biofuel production By Jim DawsonMon, Sep 21 2009 5:30 am Every spring and summer, a "dead zone" of oxygen-poor waters the size of Massachusetts forms in the Gulf of Mexico. Fish, crab and shrimp catches decrease in these hypoxic waters, which lose oxygen due to massive algal blooms triggered by fertilizer [...]
Mississippi River Basin Policy Update: Official USDA MR Healthy Watershed Media Release By Office of Communications (202) 720-4623 September 24, 2009-Agriculture Secretary Tom VilsackWASHINGTON, September 24, 2009-Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a new initiative to improve water quality and the overall health of the Mississippi River Basin in taped remarks to the Gulf Hypoxia [...]
Gulf Dead Zone Cause and Cure Known, Action Still RequiredSeptember 24, 2009, Environmental Working Group (EWG) DES MOINES - September 24 - A representative from the Washington, D.C. based Environmental Working Group (EWG) has been asked to present remarks to the Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force Public Meeting held today in [...]
Feds to fund Mississippi clean up from Minnesota to the Gulf By TOM MEERSMAN , Minneapolis Star Tribune The federal effort involving 12 states is aimed at shrinking Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone" The river that begins as a trickle in Itasca State Park and ends 2,350 miles later at the Gulf of Mexico will [...]
Guest column: Iowa must take responsibility for the Dead Zone By SUSAN HEATHCOTE, heathcote@iaenviornment.org or MATT ROTA, matt@healthygulf.org September 23, 2009Farm and lawn fertilizer, livestock manure, human sewage and other sources from Iowa and 30 other states in the Mississippi River Basin are flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and creating havoc with marine life [...]
Plan to fight Gulf 'dead zone' will target agricultural polluters By Chris Kirkham September 26, 2009, 9:22PM, Times-PicayuneAlmost a decade after states along the Mississippi River pledged to reduce pollution that leads to the perennial "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, the federal government has announced the first program to specifically target and reduce [...]
Algae prompt Des Moines to switch drinking-water rivers By JASON PULLIAM, jpulliam@dmreg.com September 23, 2009, Des Moines RegisterRecord levels of potentially toxic algae in the Raccoon River have once again forced the Des Moines Water Works to draw from the Des Moines River to keep drinking water free of poor tastes, bad smells and health [...]
Delta Farm Conservation EffortsSeptember 10, 2009, Associated PressCLARKSDALE, Miss. (AP) — Soybean farmer Mason Dunn uses an irrigation system that recycles leftover water in an effort to conserve what is a precious commodity in the Delta region. Dunn also uses numerous other methods to conserve water and limit the impact on the environment on his [...]
Clean on paper: EPAs duel over nitrogen By PAUL DAILING pdailing@scn1.comSeptember 15, 2009 , The Fox Valley Villages SunA grasshopper rests a moment on some algae on the Fox River in Montgomery recently. Nitrogen can help algae overrun bodies of water, killing fish and upsetting ecosystems in the process. Yet, the state EPA removed nitrogen [...]
Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' to grow dramatically due to federal biofuel mandate By Bryan Nelson, MotherNatureNetwork.comWed, Sep 16 2009 at 10:47 PM ESTDEAD ZONE: Nutrient-rich sendiment flowing out of the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico can be seen from space. (Photo: AP News/NASA) Every year copious amounts of fertilizer and nutrient-rich [...]