DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An environmental collaborative is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to push Iowa and nine other Mississippi River states to address pollution in the river.
The Des Moines Register reports that the Mississippi River Collaborative says the EPA has failed to require enforceable regulations, deadlines or funding to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous pollution. The pollution contributes to the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone, an area that’s unable to support aquatic life.
The environmental collaborative looked at clean-water efforts in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Its report calls the EPA’s efforts weak and ineffective. The collaborative represents 13 environmental and legal groups, including the Iowa Environmental Council.
