US states wage campaign to hold powerful industry accountable: 'There is a lot of new energy around this problem'

A growing number of states are waging a campaign against big agriculture to force them to clean up their act and take responsibility for the mammoth waste they produce. 

What's happening?

A growing number of states, including Washington and Oregon, want farmers to take responsibility for the waste they pump into the environment, as reported by The New Lede. Pollutants from the farms are washing off the land and polluting various water sources, which puts the health of people drinking the water at risk.

Regulators and citizen groups across the U.S are working to get crop and livestock producers to document and reduce the pollution associated with the industry and enforce tighter regulations. These groups have also pushed to take legal action against producers not complying with these limits. 

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"There is a lot of new energy around this problem," Salini Sasidharan, assistant professor of groundwater management at Oregon State University, told The New Lede. 

Why is agricultural runoff concerning?

Agricultural runoff, especially from animal farms, can have a number of negative impacts on human health and the environment. It contains pollutants such as nitrates, which are particularly problematic. Nitrates can cause health issues for babies and may also be carcinogenic. But just how high are these nitrate levels, and should we be worried?

Well, research has shown that nitrate levels in some areas are well above the safe limits set by the federal government. For example, in Yakima Valley in Washington state, nitrate levels were well over federal limits in one out of every five drinking wells. 

In addition to human health concerns, high nitrate levels also harm fish, amphibians, and other aquatic wildlife. The Threatened Species Recovery Hub found that high levels of nitrates in the water can impact the growth of aquatic animals and reduce their tolerance of other stressors, such as high temperatures. 

Agricultural runoff can also contain other pollutants, such as organic nitrogen and phosphorus. An excess of these nutrients can lead to rapid algal growth in the water known as an algal bloom. This causes a depletion of oxygen, which can lead to mass fish deaths. 

What's being done about agricultural runoff?

In addition to the campaign, the Environmental Protection Agency has also taken action against several dairy farms that haven't made enough of an effort to reduce their pollution.

Additionally, regulators across the country have introduced plans to control the pollution and reduce the amount of nitrates leaching into the ground. For example, Oregon introduced the Nitrate Reduction Plan for the Umatilla Basin. The Michigan Supreme Court, meanwhile, has introduced a groundbreaking new ruling that aims to tighten the requirements on farm waste management.

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