Farming communities facing crisis over nitrate pollution, study says

http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10657809-farming-communities-facing-crisis-over-nitrate-pollution-study-says

3/13/2012
By Stett Holbrook
Food & Environment Reporting Network

Nitrate contamination in groundwater from fertilizer and animal manure is severe and getting worse for hundreds of thousands of residents in California’s Central Valley farming communities, according to a study released Tuesday by researchers at the University of California, Davis.

Nearly 10 percent of the 2.6 million people living in the Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Valley might be drinking nitrate-contaminated water, researchers found. And if nothing is done to stem the problem, the report warns, nearly 80 percent of residents could be at risk of health and financial problems by 2050.

High nitrate levels in drinking water have been linked to thyroid cancer, skin rashes, hair loss, birth defects and “blue baby syndrome,” a potentially fatal blood disorder in infants.

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Nitrate-contaminated water is a well-documented fact in many of California’s farming communities. The agricultural industry, however, has maintained that it is not solely responsible because nitrates come from many sources. But, according to the UC Davis report, 96 percent of nitrate contamination comes from agriculture and only 4 percent can be traced to water treatment plants, septic systems, food processing, landscaping and other sources. While the report focused on California, nitrates in groundwater is a problem that plagues farming communities around the U.S.

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