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EPA to propose nutrient pollution rules next year to settle lawsuit

St. Louis Public Radio | By Eli Chen
Published December 8, 2016 at 7:00 PM CST
Low-oxygen dead zones, like the one forming in the Gulf of Mexico, are caused by excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus being dumped into waterways.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Low-oxygen dead zones, like the one forming in the Gulf of Mexico, are caused by excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus being dumped into waterways.

This story was updated to clarify how the EPA would proceed. 

The Environmental Protection Agency will  propose regulations on nutrient pollution by mid-December 2017 to settle a lawsuit filed by an environmental group in U.S. District Court. 

The Missouri Coalition for the Environment filed a lawsuit against the EPA in February for not adequately addressing the issue of nutrient pollution through the Clean Water Act. The EPA has agreed to propose rules by next year, unless the agency approves criteria submitted by the state before the deadline. 

Nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients enter waterways through fertilizer runoff and sewage treatment plant discharges. An overabundance of such nutrients have caused fish kills, harmful algal blooms and dead zones along the Mississippi River.

The EPA generally does not require states to monitor or regulate nutrients in waterways. 

"It's an important first step towards thorough protection of our water resources, but there's certainly more to be done," said Alicia Lloyd, clean water policy coordinator at the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. 

Low-oxygen dead zones, like the one forming in the Gulf of Mexico, are caused by excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus being dumped into waterways.
Credit National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
A dead zone with sediment from the Mississippi River carries fertilizer to the Gulf of Mexico.

Lloyd co-authored a recent report by the Mississippi River Collaborative, a group of environmental policy experts, which noted that many Mississippi-bordering states have not made progress in recent years to develop regulations to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. 

The state last proposed regulations to limit nutrient pollution in 2009, but they were rejected by the EPA. 

Missouri Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Tom Bastian wrote in an email that the agency "does not have any additional information at this time." 

Follow Eli Chen on Twitter: @StoriesByEli

Copyright 2016 St. Louis Public Radio
Eli Chen
Eli Chen is the science and environment reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. She comes to St. Louis after covering the eroding Delaware coast, bat-friendly wind turbine technology, mouse love songs and various science stories for Delaware Public Media/WDDE-FM. Before that, she corralled robots and citizen scientists for the World Science Festival in New York City and spent a brief stint booking guests for Science Friday’s live events in 2013. Eli grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where a mixture of teen angst, a love for Ray Bradbury novels and the growing awareness about climate change propelled her to become the science storyteller she is today. When not working, Eli enjoys a solid bike ride, collects classic disco, watches standup comedy and is often found cuddling other people’s dogs. She has a bachelor’s in environmental sustainability and creative writing at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has a master’s degree in journalism, with a focus on science reporting, from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.
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