July, 2002 - The Environment Report

Curbing Nitrogen Pollution

Across the country, forests, streams and coastlines are getting extra doses of nutrients containing the element nitrogen. Researchers say the long-term impact of these unwanted compounds on the environment could be serious. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Daniel Grossman reports on some efforts to reduce nitrogen pollution:

Transcript

Across the country, forests, streams and coastlines are getting extra doses of nutrients
containing the element nitrogen. Researchers say the long-term impact of these unwanted compounds on the environment could be serious. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Daniel Grossman reports on some efforts to reduce nitrogen pollution:

A thunderstorm soaks the land and lights the sky. The electric jolts of the lightning change nitrogen in the air into compounds needed for plants to grow. Lightning, as well as microbes in the soil, converts annually nearly 100 million tons of atmospheric nitrogen into plant nutrients. Humans make the same compounds in factories and call them fertilizer, a mainstay of agriculture. Between these synthetic chemicals and a smaller quantity of related compounds produced when fossil fuels are burned, humans produce more nitrogen-rich nutrients than nature makes on the seven continents. University of Minnesota ecologist David Tilman says such extra nutrients are a concern.

“Right now half or more of the nitrogen we put on a farm field just washes through the soil and down into the groundwater into lakes, rivers, streams and into the ocean.”

This wasted nitrogen often travels great distances causing widespread damage. Tilman says on land, the nutrients cause exotic weeds to outgrow native plants. In the ocean, the nutrients cripple critical habitats. The ecologist says nitrogen pollution must be cut. One place to start is on the farm.

“We have to find some way to grow crops where the crops take up much more of the nutrients that we apply.”

(Sound of walking through grass. Quiet bird calls in background.)

Near Chesapeake Bay, farmer and agricultural scientist Russ Brinsfield walks across a patch of tall dry grass.

We’re on the edge of a field, about a sixty-acre field of corn, on the beautiful Eastern Shore of Maryland.

This field is a research plot at the Maryland Center for Agro-Ecology. Here Brinsfield is studying agriculture’s environmental impact. Chesapeake Bay’s waters have high concentrations of farmer’s nutrients, causing blooms of the toxic algae Pfiesteria. The pollution has also caused declines in sea grass beds. Brinsfield says solutions to the problem fall into two categories.

“The first series of practices are those practices that we’ve been able to demonstrate that by a farmer implementing them he can reduce his inputs without affecting his outputs… that at the end of the year have added profit to his bottom line.”

For instance, testing the soil’s nitrogen level before fertilizing. And splitting fertilizer applications into two doses rather than one so that nutrients are added only when plants need them. Such simple measures are good for environment and the bottom line. Brinsfield says in the last 10 years most farmers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland have cut fertilizer use this way. Then there’s the other category of improvements.

“We’re going to have to do some things-ask some farmers to do some things-that may cost them more to do than what they are going to get in return from that investment.”

For example, in the winter, many fields here are fallow and bare. That means top soil erodes when it rains, taking with it residual fertilizer. It wasn’t always this way.

“I can remember my dad saying to me, ‘every field has to be green going into the winter, Son.’ So all of our fields were planted with rye or wheat or barley. It served two purposes. First, the animals grazed it. And second, it held the soil intact.”

And intact soil retains its fertilizer. Such winter cover crops also prevent fertilizer loss by storing nutrients in plant leaves and stalks. This used to be dairy country and cover crops grazed by cows made economic sense. Now farmers mostly grow grains. Planting a cover crop could cut nitrogen flow from farms by 40 percent but it costs farmers about $20/acre and provides no economic benefit to them. Brinsfield says farmers need an incentive.

“For the most part, farmers are willing to participate and to do those things that need to be done, as long as they can still squeak out a living.”

To help them squeak out a living, the state pays some farmers to sow cover crops. The state also pays them to plant buffers of grass and trees that suck up nutrients before they leave the farm. Today farms in six states that are part of the Chesapeake’s huge watershed contribute about 54 million pounds of nitrogen to the bay. The goal is to cut this figure approximately in half by two thousand and ten. Robert Howarth, a marine biologist and expert on nitrogen pollution at Cornell University, says though ambitious, this target can be achieved.

“I think most of the problems from nitrogen pollution have relatively straightforward technical fixes. So the real trick is to get the political will to institute these.”

Howarth says much of the nitrogen problem could be eliminated with a blend of government subsidies and regulations. But more will be needed as well… solutions of a more personal nature.

(sound of Redbones Barbeque)

There’s a pungent, smoky aroma in the air at Redbones Barbeque in Somerville, Massachusetts. The crowded bistro serves up a variety of ribs, chicken, sausage and other meats, dripping with savory sauces. University of Minnesota ecologist David Tilman says when someone eats a meal they are responsible for the little share of fertilizer a farmer somewhere had to apply to grow a crop. If the meal is from farm-raised animals, like the heaping plates of meat served here, the amount of fertilizer is much greater than if it’s from plants.

“It takes from three to ten kilograms of grain to produce a single kilogram of meat.”

Tilman says if Americans ate less meat, they could dramatically reduce fertilizer usage. However, per capita consumption is rising. Meat consumption is on the rise globally as well. David Tilman would like that to change. He says if current trends continue, human production of nitrogen nutrients will grow to triple or quadruple what nature makes on all Earth’s lands. Professor Tilman says that in many places the impact on the environment would be catastrophic.

For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Daniel Grossman.

Epa Ombudsman Losing Independence?

Testimony before a Senate committee indicates the Environmental Protection Agency’s ombudsman would not have the independence necessary to do the job under a reorganization planned by the E.P.A. Administrator. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham explains:

Transcript

Testimony before a Senate committee indicates the Environmental Protection Agency’s ombudsman would not have the independence necessary to do the job under a reorganization planned by the EPA Administrator. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

The
ombudsman is supposed to represent the interests of the public within the EPA without fear of repercussion. An official with the General Accounting Office told senators that the EPA’s plan to put the ombudsman under the EPA’s Office of Inspector General would take away the ombudsman’s independence. The General Accounting Office finds that the ombudsman needs independence, impartiality and confidentiality to do the job correctly. By putting the ombudsman under the authority of another office, the ombudsman would lose control of the budget and authority to decide which cases
to pursue. That would mean the ombudsman would lose — at the very least — the appearance of operating independently of the rest of the EPA. The EPA indicates it wants to combine the offices to streamline bureaucracy. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Mapping Canadian Groundwater

Canadian researchers are studying groundwater in the Great Lakes basin to determine if the water supply will meet the future needs of humans and wildlife. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly has this report:

Transcript

An increasing population and a drier climate have led to concerns about Ontario’s groundwater supply, but up until now, no one has known just how much groundwater there is…or where it’s located. Researchers from Ontario and the Canadian government
say they plan to create a map of the basin’s resources. Andrew Piggott is the lead scientist for Environment Canada. He says they’ll look at how well different soils absorb water. And how geology determines where the groundwater collects.

“It really is a step towards better understanding these processes and getting a sense of the kind of change we might see as well in the future.”

The researchers are also concerned about wildlife. If a river’s groundwater supply dries up, it may not be able to support animals like brook trout. The study’s authors hope their findings will help humans plan for such change. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.

Bringing Back the American Chestnut

Researchers say they are making some progress in the effort to restore the American Chestnut tree. The tree was devastated at the turn of the last century by a fungus accidentally introduced in this country by plant importers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton has more:

Transcript

Michigan State University plant pathologist Dennis Fulbright says the American chestnut was extremely valuable for many reasons. It was tall and straight, making it ideal for ship masts and utility poles. It was unusually decay resistant and could be used in situations where wood comes into contact with soil. And it produced a great food for humans and wildlife alike. That is, until the fungus arrived in America.

“Chestnut blight was first found in the city of New York in 1904, and from that point it took about 50 years to destroy 4 billion trees.”

Researchers are conducting two separate experiments to see if they can help the tree resist the blight. In Pennsylvania, they’re crossbreeding the American chestnut with the naturally resistant Chinese chestnut. And in Michigan, they’re planting chestnuts from the few remaining trees that survived the blight, to see if their resistance can be passed on to future generations of trees. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.

The Greenest City in the U.S.?

The City of Chicago wants to be “the greenest city in the United States.” Some environmental groups like what they hear, but want to know more details about how the city plans to get there. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

City officials are updating a plan for downtown and are including more greenspace. Besides new parks, and greener areas along the Chicago River, the city plans more and better public transportation, and better use of space by building more high-density residential areas that include affordable housing. Environmental groups like what they hear so far. Jack Darin is Director of the Sierra Club – Illinois Chapter.

“Being a green city is hard because cities are inherently dirty places. But, there are a lot of things that can be done to make them a lot cleaner, to make them a lot healthier, to make them better places to live. And we’re encouraged that the city is trying some novel ideas in that direction.”

Chicago has a history of good urban planning, but the city has not always followed its plans to their completion. Environmental groups say they’re hopeful that the city completes this plan. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Culture Tour Entertains Park Visitors

People who track where we go on vacations… predict a lot of us will be staying close to home this summer. It’s partially because of the economy and partially because of fears of terrorism. It means more people are expected to visit parks in the region instead of venturing to more exotic locations. Visitors to some of the parks in the region might just stumble upon some free entertainment about the region’s history and natural beauty. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tamar Charney reports:

Transcript

People who track where we go on vacations, predict a lot of us will be staying close to home this summer. It’s partially because of the economy and partially because fears of terrorism. It means more people are expected to visit parks in the region instead of venturing to more exotic locations. Visitors to some of the parks in the region might just
stumble upon some free entertainment about the region’s history and natural beauty. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tamar Charney reports:

This summer, Lisa Johansson, like a lot of people, will wake up in a tent pitched at a campsite at a state or national park. She’ll spend the day hiking or kayaking just like any other park visitor. But a little before seven, you’ll find her, her husband and two other people pulling musical instruments out of their cars and tents and setting up for a performance in the park. For the past few summers her band “Song of the Lakes” has been one of the performers on the Michigan Great Outdoors Culture Tour. The tour sends musicians, storytellers, dancers, and actors out to parks in remote areas of the state.

(fade up music)

“What we do for these particular settings is bring the natural surroundings to the fore. We also do some shipwreck stories and songs, as well as some contemporary pieces that have been written about appreciating the vastness and beauty of the Great Lakes.”

(fade out music)

But these performances in the parks are more than entertainment. Nancy Mathews is with the Michigan Humanities Council and she’s the coordinator of the Tour. She says it’s a way to give people a little history of the region where they’re vacationing.

“For the visitors they walk away with a better understanding of the areas which they are visiting. They have opportunities to then explore a little further into the history, or culture, or the people of this area.”

Throughout July and August there will be 97 performances at parks in Northern Michigan. Twenty different performance groups will be on tour. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tamar Charney.

Biodiesel Makes Inroads in Midwest

While the debate over the economic and ecological viability of ethanol continues, another fuel made from crops is becoming more available in the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl has more:

Transcript

(ambient sound under voice)

A man who would only call himself Steve is reaching for the gas pump at this station in rural Illinois. It’s a warm spring day, and the wind is cutting across the corn and soybean fields that surround this filling station. Steve is pumping bio-diesel fuel into his landscaping truck.

“Anything to help the farmers I think is a good thing. It’s supposed to be better on the engines from what I understand.”

Bio-diesel is a fuel that includes an additive made from soybean byproducts. Steve says his company buys all of its fuel at this station, so it wasn’t his decision to purchase bio-diesel instead of regular. Brad Jurgens is the manager of the station. He says the company thinks most people will come to his station to buy bio-diesel on purpose:

“Hopefully they will think it is a better product, its cleaner burning, they will get behind the product as a result of its attributes, and they will feel good about using the soy diesel, and be willing to pay a couple cents premium. That’s our goal.”

This station is the latest in a growing number of gas stations in the Great Lakes Region to sell bio-diesel fuel. But not everyone is convinced that the soybean based fuel additive is an economic alternative to regular diesel, or even the best option to help the environment. Mike Osenga is the publisher of Diesel Progress Magazine — an engine industry trade publication. He says the formula for bio-diesel fuel has changed over the years, and there have not been long-term tests on any one blend to prove they are better for engines or the environment:

“Anything in a short term testing, a matter of hours or even a matter of days, may show some encouraging results. But diesel engines like engines in cars are designed to run hundreds of thousands of miles or even of million miles and many hours. Until you test it over a long period of time, you don’t really know.”

Osenga says there is even some evidence the bio-diesel can clog injectors on engines, and be less fuel-efficient. He also says a government mandated low-sulfur diesel that will be available this fall will reduce emissions much more than bio-diesel can. Osenga also says the only way bio-diesel can compete with regular fuel is with heavy government subsidies. In rural Illinois, the bio-diesel sells for a dollar thirty-six per gallon, a couple cents higher than regular diesel available down the street. Osenga says that number would be closer to fifteen cents per gallon without government subsidy.

(ambient
sound — back at the station)

But those arguments find little support back at the gas station in rural Illinois, where bio-diesel supporters are celebrating the fuel’s availability in the area. Brad Glenn is a farmer and president of the Illinois Soybean Association. He says even if bio-diesel costs a little more and needs to be subsidized, it’s worth it:

“I don’t think anybody in this country, especially after September 11th, wants to be as dependent on the Middle East for oil as what we have been. And yes, it’s a little bit more expensive at this point in time. We think it’s well worth it. Both from the renewable aspect and the environmental aspect.”

While there may be disagreements over the merits of bio-diesel, there is some history that bodes well for fuels made from crops. Many of the arguments against bio-diesel were also made against ethanol. But a powerful farm lobby and some scientific advances have slowly led to increases in using the corn-based fuel as an additive. Bio-diesel supporters hope the same will happen for their fuel. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jonathan Ahl.

The Threats of Nitrogen Pollution

A researcher in Rhode Island collects a sample from an algae bloom. Increased levels of nutrients, such as nitrogen, often lead to these blooms. Photo courtesy of URI Sea Grant.

From mountain summits to ocean shores, plants and animals are suffering from exposure to the chemical nitrogen. Though this element is a key building block of life, it can also be a pollutant so serious that some biologists rank its effects on par with global warming. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Daniel Grossman reports:

Transcript

From mountain summits to ocean
shores, plants and animals are suffering from exposure to the chemical nitrogen. Though this element is a key building block of life, it can also be a pollutant so serious that some biologists rank its effects on par with global warming. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Daniel Grossman reports:

(Sound of farm; fertilizer application)

At Welsch Farms in Jersey County, Illinois, workers are preparing the soil for planting. They’re injecting into the ground anhydrous ammonia, a man-made fertilizer. This is modern agriculture, the foundation of civilization.

“When agriculture first began about 10,000 years ago there were 4 million people living on Earth. There are now 6 billion. And the only reason we can have so many people is that we have been able to perfect agriculture.”

University of Minnesota ecologist David Tilman
says a critical element to perfecting agriculture was inventing synthetic fertilizer containing the element nitrogen, like the ammonia being applied here. Plants need nitrogen to make life’s building blocks, including DNA and proteins. So billions of pounds of factory-made nutrients are applied to crops every year. Of course, nitrogen is all around us. The air we breathe is mostly nitrogen. But this gaseous form is kind of like crude oil to a car — it needs to be chemically modified — the same way oil has to be refined — to be used. The natural refineries of atmospheric nitrogen are soil microbes that convert it to a form plants can use. But today, the dominant source of this key nutrient is not microbes. It’s fertilizer factories. These, along with nitrogen compounds created when fuel in cars and power plants is burned have doubled above natural levels the production of nitrogen nutrients.

“The problem is there can be too much of a good thing.”

Gerry Melillo is a researcher at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He says the problem is not just how much of this nutrient is made, but where it goes.

“Once it is biologically available, it can cascade through the environment in a variety of forms, moving to places that we as humans did not intend it to move.”

More than half of the fertilizer applied by growers is never used by plants. It percolates into ground water. It evaporates into the air and flows from fields to streams and lakes. In rare instances, water supplies become so contaminated with excess nitrogen they become unfit for human use. Nitrogen compounds in such water can replace oxygen in the blood of infants, causing a life-threatening condition sometimes called “blue-baby syndrome.”

Waterways polluted with excess nitrogen flow to the ocean. There in shallow coastal waters, it spurs algae growth. When these algae die and decompose they use up oxygen, suffocating fish. Cornell biologist Robert Howarth says this is happening in spades at the mouth of the Mississippi river.

“The nitrogen pollution coming
down the Mississippi River has created an area of about 20,000 square kilometers — that’s an area bigger than the state of New Jersey — where a lot of higher forms of life have just been wiped out by this nitrogen pollution.

The degree of damage there is unique because the mighty Mississippi drains so much farmland, but Howarth says two-thirds of U.S. coastal waters suffer some nitrogen damage. Life on land is at risk as well. Liquid fertilizers evaporate from farmers’ fields. These vapors, combined with smaller amounts of nitrogen compounds from tailpipes and smokestacks drift in the wind and fall to land as acid rain and dust.

(Sound of walking in woods)

The effect of nitrogen pollution on trees is the subject of a study at the Harvard Forest outside Boston.

“As we go up the path here there’s two research plots on either side. The high nitrogen forest is over here…”

Forester John Aber walks briskly up a steep dirt track. For the last 12 years, Aber, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, has been applying fertilizer to this plantation of mature red pine. The scientist turns off the path into a stand of tall trees.

“Some of the trees appear, actually, to be dead. And the remaining trees that are alive, the crowns are very sparse. Some foliage left at the tops and and at the ends of the branches, but it’s very open.”

“Huh, this is a pretty sick-looking forest.”

(laughs) “It is indeed. It’s looking a lot worse than it did than even a year or two ago.”

John Aber say the extra nitrogen
is probably binding up soil minerals, making them inaccessible to roots. The trees in this plot are getting big doses — 20 times the amount of nitrogen falling as air pollution. But Aber has some evidence that even smaller amounts of nitrogen — comparable to that coming from acid rain and dust — could be causing subtle forest damage.

“So it’s kind of a warning that those potential responses are out there, if we didn’t take care in controlling nitrogen pollution.”

(Fade out steps)

It’s not just forests with these responses. Half a continent away, ecologist David Tilman is studying the effects of nitrogent on native grasses. He’s been surprised by his results.

“Adding a small amount of nitrogen; just the amount that falls out of the atmosphere every year in Minnesota, year after year for twenty years, has caused us to lose a little over 30 percent of the plant prairie species that occurred at our site.”

Like many plants, native grasses are adapted
to live in low-nutrient sod. They can’t take advantage of nitrogen-rich soil.
Plants that can — like the European transplant quack grass –out-grow and
replace the natives. Tillman says it’s the gradual erosion of the
diversity of plant and animal life that may be the most serious impact of
nitrogen pollution. Tillman adds U.S. farms and factories must reduce
nitrogen pollution if this country’s diversity of life is to be preserved.

This is Daniel Grossman for the Great Lakes Radio Consortium.

Prosecutor Wins Whistleblower Award

A federal prosecutor and environmental-crimes whistleblower is declaring victory over the Department of Justice. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Natalie Walston reports:

Transcript

A federal prosecutor and environmental-crimes whistleblower is declaring
victory over the Department of Justice. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Natalie Walston reports:

Greg Sassae is an assistant U.S. Attorney in Cleveland.

He says his bosses retaliated against him for his investigation of alleged
environmental crimes at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Sasse says airport officials wanted to expand on nearly 40-acres once used
by NASA.

But … he says the land is contaminated with a chemical stew of rocket and
jet fuels, radioactive and nuclear wastes, and heavy metals.

Sasse says he was suspended for a week and denied a raise because of his
investigations.

A U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge has awarded Sasse
200-thousand dollars in punitive damages.

The Department of Justice is appealing the ruling.

Jeff Ruch of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility calls the
decision a landmark because it raises the question of whether a prosecutor
can be a whistleblower.

For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Natalie Walston.

Fertilizer Made Greener With Soy

Some soybean farmers have developed a new kind of fertilizer that could help the environment. Clean Green fertilizer is made of 100% soybeans. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:

Transcript

Some soybean farmers have developed a new kind of fertilizer that could
help the environment. Clean Green fertilizer is made of 100% soybeans.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:

Many chemical fertilizers have high phosphorus levels. Phosphorus can
drastically alter the ecosystems of lakes or streams. Michigan Soybean
farmers have developed a new fertilizer made entirely of soybeans to
address the problem. Clean Green has 7% nitrogen which is good for lawns
but 0% phosphorus. Mike Score of the Michigan State University
agricultural extension program tested Clean Green on lawns and found the
product worked.

“So then we went on to compare Clean Green with chemical
fertilizers that are available on the marketplace today and we looked at
chemicals with and without phosphorus. And we found that Clean Green
worked equal to or better than chemical fertilizers that are on the
market.”

Score says people have to use more Clean Green per application on their
lawns than chemical fertilizers. But they only have to apply the product
twice, once in the spring and once in the fall, rather than four times a
year like conventional fertilizer. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium,
I’m Tracy Samilton.