ANOTHER MASSIVE DEAD ZONE IN THE GULF

Once again, the Dead Zone has reared its ugly head in the Gulf of Mexico. Last week, Dr. Nancy Rabalais from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMOCON) made her annual cruise to measure the Dead Zone and despite high seas caused by Tropical Storm Dolly, the Dead Zone measures about 8,000 square miles this year, which makes it the second largest ever recorded! In my time at GRN it has been frustrating to see so little done to fix this ecological nightmare. Think about it...we have an area in the Gulf of Mexico the size of New Jersey where there is so little oxygen that shellfish and fish must swim away or suffocate.

The Dead Zone is a national catastrophe that has been overlooked for decades and it is time for EPA to step up and bring the Gulf of Mexico back from the brink of ecological disaster. Recently GRN and conservation groups that border the Mississippi River petitioned EPA to take decisive action. Please join us in this call!

It is important to let EPA know that the citizens of the Gulf and the United States want EPA to utilize its authority to make sure that the Dead Zone does not continue to grow. Please take a moment to send a letter to EPA to tell them to clean up the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico!

Matt Rota

Water Resources Program Director

For more information on what the Dead Zone is and what causes it, visit our website

THE MIGHTY ORPHAN

The conclusion of a recent National Research Council report is that the Mighty Mississippi is an "orphan." To those of us who live in the Gulf and know of the impact a polluted Mississippi River has in creating the Dead Zone, this finding is no surprise. The EPA has neglected its duty to set limits for nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, the two primary causes of the Dead Zone. The United States Department of Agriculture has not done enough to target farm conservation money to places where it would help reduce farm runoff into the River. The federal Dead Zone Task Force, charged with finding solutions to the 7,000 square mile lifeless area in the Gulf, hasn't done much of anything.

As you might guess, there are a number of powerful interests who would like to see things remain lifeless at the federal agencies, much like the lifelessness found in the Dead Zone. In particular, agribusiness interests are currently clamoring to see that the Dead Zone Task Force does not set any meaningful goals to reduce the Dead Zone because they are afraid they might actually be held accountable to such a goal! Unfortunately, it is the Gulf of Mexico and the citizens who rely upon its abundant natural resources that are paying the price.

Jeff Grimes is Assistant Director of Water Resources for the GRN