Nitrate contamination spreading in California communities

[ensho]

http://californiawatch.org/nitrate-contamination-spreading-california-communities


The water supply of more than two million Californians has been exposed to harmful levels of nitrates over the past 15 years – a time marked by lax regulatory efforts to contain the colorless and odorless contaminant, a California Watch investigation has found.

Nitrates are now the most common groundwater contaminant in California and across the country. A byproduct of nitrogen-based farm fertilizer, animal manure, wastewater treatment plants and leaky septic tanks, nitrates leach into the ground and can be expensive to extract.

The problem affects both rural Californians and wealthier big-city water systems. State law requires public water systems to remove nitrates. Many rural communities, however, don’t have access to the type of treatment systems available in metropolitan areas.

Nitrates have been linked to “blue baby syndrome,” which cuts off an infant’s oxygen supply. Some studies have found connections to certain cancers in lab animals.

-snip-

And yet the state’s patchwork regulatory efforts remain riddled with gaps that have allowed nitrate contamination to spread virtually unchecked. Consider:

•Nothing is being done to regulate the use of the leading source of nitrate pollution in many regions of the state – nitrogen fertilizer. A lettuce farmer can apply as much fertilizer as he wants, within feet of the nearest water supply well, without having to worry how much of it might contaminate the groundwater with nitrates. Officials aren’t even equipped to determine the sources of contamination, meaning no one is held accountable.
•Sixty-five percent of domestic wells at Central Valley dairies test over the public health limit for nitrates, putting local residents at risk of potential exposure. Yet, according to records obtained from the State Water Resources Control Board, none of the dairies were fined for a nitrate problem identified by the state.
•When polluters are found responsible for nitrate contamination, the state rarely does anything to correct it. Californiahas issued 248 enforcement actions against 44 polluters for nitrate contamination in the past six years. But only once has the state ordered a polluter to clean up contaminated groundwater.
-very long snip-
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nothing being done

laws not upheld

not enough money

on and on it goes

[kestrel91316]

1. Overuse of ammonium nitrate fertilizer by factory farms.....

[MajorChode]

2. Big fears, little risks

The incidence of “blue baby syndrome" has fallen to almost nil in the US at the same time that the use of commercial fertilizers have soared, and the few cases that do exist where the problem was traced to drinking water from private wells that aren't tested. So yes, if you put your well and your septic tank right next to each other, you probably will have problems with nitrates, and if you're also stupid enough to mix it with your baby formula you're going to have more problems.

The EPA standard for nitrates has a considerable safety margin, so it's more than a bit misleading to say that millions of people have been exposed to "harmful levels of nitrates".