Large-scale industrial agriculture is threatening the availability of safe drinking water for rural Midwesterners, as nitrate and other compounds pollute wells.
What's happening?
Across the Midwestern U.S., well water contamination from animal agriculture is becoming an increasing threat as nitrate — an invisible, odorless, and tasteless compound found in animal manure and commercial fertilizer — infiltrates water supplies, the Guardian reports.
For instance, in some Minnesota townships, more than 40% of wells exceed the federal health standard for nitrate, and most of this contamination is caused by animal agriculture. In Wisconsin, where a quarter of the population relies on private wells, an estimated 80,000 of them contain unsafe levels of the stuff, per the Guardian. And in Iowa, more than 6,000 wells have tested above the federal limit for nitrate.
Nitrate, phosphorus, and other dangerous compounds enter the water supply when animal waste from the region's thousands of large-scale industrial livestock operations — including slaughterhouses and meat processing plants — seeps into groundwater or into local waterways. Water supplies can also be polluted when farmers spread manure on crop fields.
"Being under that burden all the time questioning whether your water is OK to drink — it really is very stressful," Nancy Utesch, a farmer in rural Wisconsin who is affected by large-scale manure application, told the Guardian.
Why is pollution from animal agriculture concerning?
Drinking water contaminated with waste from livestock operations can have serious health implications. A 2021 study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), found that the top contributor to acute gastrointestinal illness in the county Utesch lives in is the cow manure that infiltrates private wells.
Another study concluded that nitrate-contaminated water could be responsible for up to 12,000 cases of cancer each year and result in $1.5 billion in healthcare costs.
This type of pollution can also lead to a life-threatening condition called methemoglobinemia in babies along with other adverse pregnancy outcomes, the Guardian reported.
This is not the only way that animal agriculture pollutes the planet, however. Beef production alone is responsible for an estimated 41% of global deforestation, and raising animals requires a lot of water (it takes about 3.7 million gallons of water to produce a ton of beef). Livestock animals like cattle, goats, and sheep also "fart out" (or belch out) 36% of the U.S.'s methane pollution — this gas is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term when it comes to warming our planet.
What's being done about pollution from animal agriculture?
In 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Minnesota to address nitrate contamination in one area of the state, according to the Guardian. Then in January, the agency proposed regulations requiring pollution reductions from half of the country's slaughterhouses and meat processing plants.
However, these regulations overlook many meat processing plants that pollute municipal sewage treatments, per the Guardian, and many environmentalists are calling for more restrictions.
One expert at the Mayo Clinic also told the publication that many other agricultural chemicals are overlooked.
Meanwhile, local advocates are working on the ground to protect citizens. For instance, the Minnesota Well Owners Organization educates people in the southeast part of the state and provides support to private well owners, including running free water testing clinics.
When it comes to air pollution caused by agricultural operations, methane-eating microbes could help. Developed by U.S.-based company Windfall Bio, this alternative to traditional fertilizer helps to decrease methane gas in the air.
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