Course:ECON371/UBCO2011WT1/GROUP2/Article 3 : Bringing The Gulf Back to Life

From UBC Wiki

http://www.peopleandplanet.net/?lid=29944&section=37&topic=23

Summary

In the Gulf of Mexico the dead zone is already the size of New Jersey and is still growing. The dead zone is an area where the water has been depleted of its oxygen and is no longer capable of sustaining marine life. This is caused by the runoff, fueled with nitrogen and phosphorus, from the Mississippi River. These Chemicals are being discharged from fertilizer, sewage and polluted city runoffs in to the river, which ends up in the Gulf. There has recently been a petition to try and clean up the growing dead zone in the Gulf, unfortunately the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) denied this clean up. This comes as a huge loss to many industries that depend on the Gulf for there business; an example would be the fishing industry. In the past EPA has tried to set regulation limits to every state along the river, but every state has ignored these limits. For the Gulf to survive there must be strict enforcement and compliance from the EPA to accept responsibility under the Clean Water Act.

Analysis