Tucson Citizen, AZ
07-09-07
Demand for corn for ethanol could worsen Gulf of Mexico environment
PHILIP BRASHER
Shrinking that dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico will be much more costly than first
thought.
A group of scientists who looked at the problem during the Clinton administration
targeted agricultural runoff in the Midwest as the main source of the problem and
called for a 30 percent reduction in the amount of nitrogen flowing into the gulf.
A new panel of scientists believes it's going to take a far bigger reduction in
nitrogen, on the order of 45 percent, according to a draft report.
And even that won't be enough. The scientists say a second chemical,
phosphorus, which comes from city sewage systems as well as farms, also
needs to be reduced - by 40 percent.
Moreover, the report says biofuels likely will make the problem worse because of
the increase in corn acreage and use of nitrogen fertilizer needed to keep up with
the demand for ethanol.
Encouraging more production of corn-based ethanol "could nullify other efforts"
to reduce the dead zone, the scientists say.
By one estimate in the report, the expanded corn acreage needed to support the
ethanol industry could increase nitrogen runoff by 33 percent.
"They're calling for a larger reduction (in pollutants) at the same time that the
rush to corn-based ethanol is moving in the other direction," said Don Scavia, a
University of Michigan scientist who served on the original advisory board that
completed its work in 2000.
The report calls for an overhaul of agricultural programs away from crop
subsidies and into conservation measures that will reduce runoff.
The gulf's dead zone is an oxygen-deprived area, nearly devoid of shrimp, fish
and other sea life, that appears every summer.
It varies in size from 3,000 square miles to more than 7,700 square miles, an
area approaching the size of New Jersey. The oxygen loss occurs when high
levels of nitrogen and phosphorus cause excessive algae.
The government's goal is to reduce the average size of the dead zone to 2,000
square miles by 2015.
The scientists' report is due to the Environmental Protection Agency this fall.
After that, a task force of federal and state officials will issue an action plan.
States will then be expected to come up with ways to meet the reduction goals.
It's not just farms that could be affected. Cities and towns along streams that
drain into the Mississippi River could be forced to remove more phosphorus.
And the price tag could be high. The cost of significantly reducing farm runoff in
Iowa alone would be more than $600 million a year, according to Iowa State
University economists who are studying the issue for state farm organizations.
"We're going to have to make choices. Where does the money come from?" said
Rick Robinson, who follows environmental issues for the Iowa Farm Bureau.
"Does it come from education? Does it come from public safety? Does it come
from health care?"
On the Web:
• www.epa.gov/sab/panels/hypoxia_adv_panel.htm, to read the draft report and
learn about the advisory panel.
• www.epa.gov/msbasin, to read more about the dead zone.
Philip Brasher is a reporter for The Des Moines Register. E-mail:
pbrasher@dmreg.com