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Environmental Defense today praised the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) for its proposed plan to reduce the 8,000 square mile
"dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico and called on Congress to provide
incentives for reducing polluted runoff to protect the Gulf in the
next Farm Bill.
The EPA report released today concludes that fertilizer and
manure are being washed into the Mississippi River, causing
dissolved oxygen levels in the Gulf of Mexico to fall too low to
support marine life, a condition called "hypoxia" by scientists.
"The next Farm Bill will help decide the future health of the
Gulf of Mexico," said Scott Faber, a water resources specialist for
Environmental Defense. "Many farmers are implementing practices that
help combat hypoxia, but nearly as many farmers who want to help are
being turned away due to inadequate federal funding."
Environmental Defense called on Congress to expand incentive
programs administered by the US Department of Agriculture, including
programs that pay farmers to restore lost wetlands, retire
environmentally-sensitive lands, install buffers of trees and
grasses along streams, and implement other practices that reduce
fertilizer use or that intercept and filter polluted runoff.
Environmental Defense also urged Congress to create new programs to
reuse manure. Congress may reauthorize federal farm programs this
year.
"Federal farm programs fail in two ways, by failing to reward
farmers who are taking steps to combat polluted runoff, and by
encouraging farmers to grow surplus crops that not only lower crop
prices but contribute to high amounts of polluted runoff," said
Faber. "Most farmers are willing to do their part, but Congress
needs to give them the proper tools and incentives."
"Many of the practices that would reduce fertilizer use also
reduce demand for natural gas, help combat climate change, and
restore habitat for rare species," said Faber.
To read the EPA report, visit www.epa.gov/OWOW/msbasin/organ.html.
### Environmental Defense, a leading national
nonprofit organization based in New York, represents more than
300,000 members. Since 1967 we have linked science, economics, and
law to create innovative, equitable, and cost-effective solutions to
the most urgent environmental problems. | 
