Nitrate Pollution NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 Nitrate Pollution Sat, 15 May 2021 04:55:11 +0000 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Christina Stella The more than 13 million American households that get their drinking water from private wells aren’t required by state or federal environmental agencies to test their water, sometimes leaving dangerous contamination unchecked for years. Now high school students and other community members are learning to test their own water. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/nebraska-students-contribute-science-learning-spot-unsafe-drinking-water 826 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 12 Feb 2020 18:11:04 +0000 Nebraska Students Contribute To Science By Learning To Spot Unsafe Drinking Water Brian Grimmett WICHITA, Kansas — About 150,000 people in Kansas get their drinking water from private wells. How clean, and safe, is that water? Short answer: It depends. But new research suggests those wells deliver water tainted with a range of pollutants. Some leaked from dry cleaning operations. Yet far more wells soak up, and deliver to taps, fertilizer that’s been building up in Kansas soil and water over generations of modern farming. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/150000-kansans-who-drink-private-wells-are-largely-blind-contamination 823 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 29 Jan 2020 16:38:00 +0000 150,000 Kansans Who Drink From Private Wells Are Largely Blind To Contamination Jonathan Ahl Animal waste and nitrogen-based agricultural fertilizers contribute to nitrate runoff, which ends up in creeks, streams, rain and, eventually, water systems. Nitrate, that mix of nitrogen and oxygen, can cause serious health problems if it’s too concentrated. The best defense is filtering, which forests are great at doing. But a new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service suggests forests are falling behind, and heavy rains brought on by climate change are making it worse. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/climate-change-hurting-forests-ability-filter-agricultural-nitrate-pollution 704 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 26 Apr 2019 16:53:18 +0000 Climate Change Is Hurting Forests' Ability To Filter Agricultural Nitrate Pollution Clay Masters for Harvest Public Media There’s a city council election in Des Moines soon, and voters have questions about the rivers where the city draws its water supply. “Is (the water) safe to drink? Is it safe to consume?” candidate Michael Kiernan says he’s been asked. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/fewer-regulations-heighten-cities-concerns-over-water-quality-cost-clean-it 398 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 03 Nov 2017 09:00:00 +0000 Fewer Regulations Heighten Cities’ Concerns Over Water Quality, Cost To Clean It Up Grant Gerlock A new report suggests the Environmental Protection Agency should consider lowering the legal limit in drinking water for nitrates, a chemical often connected to fertilizer use. People who drink water with elevated, but not illegal, levels of nitrates could be at an increased risk of kidney, ovarian and bladder cancer, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group asserts. But a University of Iowa researcher who studies nitrate contamination says the connection to cancer is inconsistent and other chemicals may be involved. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/study-suggests-legal-nitrate-levels-water-could-cause-cancer-researcher-says-it-isn-t 385 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 17 Oct 2017 14:32:00 +0000 Study Suggests Legal Nitrate Levels In Water Could Cause Cancer; Researcher Says It Isn’t Definitive Amy Mayer Chemical runoff from Midwest farm fields is contributing to the largest so-called ‘dead zone’ on record in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists have mapped the size of the oxygen-deprived region in the Gulf since 1985. This year’s is estimated at more than 8,700 square miles, which is about the size of New Jersey. The amount and timing of rainfall contribute to the washing of chemicals from farm fields throughout the watershed into the Mississippi River and down to the Gulf. Robert Magnien, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says flows of nutrients this year were greater than normal. “So in years like this with a lot of precipitation and higher than normal flows,” Magnien says, “that carries more nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico to fuel the algal bloom, which eventually decompose and rob the water of oxygen.” The resulting hypoxic region has biological and economic implications for the region, such as certain fish being deprived of their primary food https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/year-gulf-mexicos-dead-zone-largest-record 349 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 02 Aug 2017 21:22:47 +0000 This Year The Gulf Of Mexico's 'Dead Zone' Is The Largest On Record Alex Smith Pretty Prairie, Kansas, population 680, had a moment in the spotlight during the confirmation hearings for new Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt. Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran mentioned Pretty Prairie as an example of a community that’s struggling because of EPA regulations that Pruitt could ease. But residents of the tiny south central Kansas town are also concerned about how federal budget cuts might affect their ability to pay for a new water treatment system. Along the two-block stretch that makes up Main Street Pretty Prairie, one storefront contains the city office and the public library. Amy Tiemeyer comes by every week – often with kids in tow – to pick up her free bottled water. She says the trip is no big deal. “We come here a lot anyway, ‘cause the library’s connected, so we can rent movies, get books, and we kinda do it all at the same time,” Tiemeyer says. Since the mid-1990s, the tap water in Pretty Prairie has exceeded the EPA’s safe level for nitrates , https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/tiny-kansas-town-anxiously-waits-water-regulations-change-or-grant-money-come-through 295 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 19 Apr 2017 17:16:28 +0000 Tiny Kansas Town Anxiously Waits For Water Regulations To Change, Or Grant Money To Come Through Ariana Brocious At a nitrogen management class in the small town of Creighton, Nebraska, Tanner Jenkins shows a chart of groundwater data to a group of about 40 farmers. He points to a red line, which shows the level of chemical nitrates in groundwater over time. “You can see we’re on a pretty steady upward click,” Jenkins, who works for a local groundwater district, tells the farmers. Decades of intensive farming have contaminated the groundwater across many parts of Nebraska. A new plan may help farmers in the northeastern part of the state address the problem. Farmers rely on nitrogen fertilizer to maximize their bushels of corn and soybeans. But nitrogen not used by plants—because too much was applied, or the timing was off, or the rain or irrigation washed it away—makes its way into the water supply. Farms sit shoulder to shoulder across this part of the high plains, where shallow water tables and sandy soil have accelerated the movement of nitrates into the groundwater. Excessive nitrates in https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/new-nebraska-plan-could-be-model-cleaning-groundwater-pollution 264 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:25:38 +0000 New Nebraska Plan Could Be A Model For Cleaning Up Groundwater Pollution