Local Officials' Perspective

(Biello, 2008)

From a political standpoint, dead zones are reversible and action must take place in order to fix the desecration of delicate ecosystems. As a local official, there is not much that can be done to ameliorate the damage done, considering that the action and laws that environmentalist advocate to be passed, will have a negative affect on other industries. It is too costly to change the disposition of sewage and unnecessary chemicals, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which are discharged from factories and farms. Any policies that local officials have passed have been confronted either by a farmer, capitalist, or environmentalist (Adam, 2008). However, an example of a reversed dead zone is that of the Black Sea, the once largest dead zone in the world. The dead zone disappeared between 1991 and 2001 after the price of fertilizers skyrocketed, and forced the use of fertilizers to plummet. In result, fishing gained more economic significance (Mee, 2006). The United Nations had advocated for cleanup policies to reduce large industrial emissions. Nitrogen reduced 37% when these policies for reducing sewage and industrial emissions into the North Sea dead zone went into effect. Local officials have faced many complaints from environmentalists about this issue (Mee, 2006). The Gulf Restoration Network sent a request to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to set a limit and regulate the maximum daily loads of nutrients in the coastal waters (Schleifstein, 2013). The state agency, however, denied the request. The state’s response to this issue was that it was already addressing the problem by participating in the voluntary efforts to develop US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including Gulf of Mexico Alliance and the Hypoxia Task Force (Schleifstein, 2013). Participation in these voluntary efforts is the only reasonable solution for the state officials, on the topic of dead zones. The state government is constantly scolded for not doing enough to clean up the waters; however, the states are constantly implementing new limits and bills to help decrease the pollution released into the water. For instance, the states around the Chesapeake Bay created the Surface Transportation Bill, providing $200 million for highway pollution reduction int eh Bay watershed, in order to achieve significant pollution cuts. Another aid the government has helped with is the stimulus package, which provides money for sewage and treatment plant upgrades through federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund, and making sure that all highway plans include runoff pollution control systems (Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2008)

Work Cited

Adam, D. (2008) Suffocating dead zones spread across world's oceans. The Guardian. (Date Accessed: February 21, 2013.) <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/14/pollution.endangeredhabitats>

Saving a National Treasure. (2008) Bad Water and the Decline of Blue Crabs in the Chesapeake BaySa. Chesapeake Bay Foundation. (Date Accessed: February 21, 2013.) <http://www.cbf.org/document.doc?id=172>

Biello, D. (2008) Scientific America. Oceanic Dead Zones Continue to Spread. Scientific America. (Date Accessed: February 21, 2013.) http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=oceanic-dead-zones-spread.

Environment. (2013) Environmentalists insist on declaring the Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone'. Environment.  (Date Accessed: February 13, 2013.) <http://environment-protecting.blogspot.com/2012/06/environmentalists-insist-on-declaring.html>.

Mee, L. (2006) Reviving Dead Zones. Scientific America. Scientific America. (Date Accessed: February 13, 2013.) <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=reviving-dead-zones>.

Schleifstein, M. (2013) Nutrients causing Gulf 'dead zone' subject of suits against EPA. The Times-Picayune. (Date Accessed: February 13, 2013.) <http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/03/environmental_groups_sue_epa_t.html>