'There's no nitrogen police.' When farming regulation fails to protect our water

(Photo by Léon McGregor on Unsplash)

Nebraska has a wide-spread water nitrate problem. So does California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin to name the states with the highest levels of drinking water contamination per 2020 data released by the Environmental Working Group.

Like many states Nebraska continues to have a tug-of-war between environment regulators and some farmers. "There are few staff to monitor Nebraska’s vast swaths of farmland, thousands of cattle feedlots, large hog operations and chicken farms. And the agencies’ own regulations don’t give the staff many tools to combat malpractice," reports Yanqi Xu of Flatwater Free Press.

The most regulators can do is give guidance through mandatory educational training; however, if a farmer doesn't attend a training, there is no penalty. The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy lacks the teeth to stop "a farmer from applying far more nitrogen fertilizer than is needed – fertilizer that can seep as nitrate into the water supply," Xu writes.

"There’s no nitrogen police." Mike Sousek told Xu. Sousek, the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resource District General Manager, described how regulators were slothful with violation action but continue to hand out new feedlot permits “like Halloween candy".

Engelmeyer Farms is a case and point of how Nebraska’s enforcement can be slow and toothless: "The West Point feeder cattle and hog facility has had high nitrate in some of its downstream wells since 2007. . . . In 2011, nitrate readings peaked at an astronomical 413 parts per million. The Environmental Protection Agency’s safe drinking limit for nitrate is 10 parts per million," Xu reports. After more inspection "the state’s only guidance was that Engelmeyer Farms needed better record-keeping."

The cycle of testing, researching and non-action continue. Farmers fight the research finding by asking for more testing. Boards set regulations and then ignore their own guidance. "But the board [Lower Elkhorn NRD] decided not to go along with its own rules . . . Instead, it voted to conduct more testing."

Xu notes, "Being a board member who favors regulation is often a good way to lose your board seat."