Webinar: Nitrate pollution in MN groundwater and the Safe Drinking Water Act

In April of 2023, Minnesota Trout Unlimited joined ten other local, state, and national environmental groups to ask the EPA to use its emergency authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act to mandate a moratorium on new concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Minnesota’s karst region until nitrate levels decline. ​

At the time,  Jeff Broberg, a professional geologist, Director of Minnesota Well Owners Organization (a cosigner of the petition) and owner of a nitrate contaminated well in Winona County stated, “We need help. Despite a clear understanding of our groundwater sensitivity and the risk factors that have led to widespread nitrate contamination in the Karst, our drinking water quality keeps getting worse. We need help to thoroughly assess and effectively communicate the risks, and we need to jointly develop a public resolve to solve the problem. We think the US EPA can help.”

On June 27, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), the organization spearheading this effort, hosted  a webinar to discuss the problem of nitrate contamination in MN groundwater and how this petition aims to help. The webinar is full of helpful scientific data and details on how Minnesotans are uniting to advocate for our waters. We found it highly informative, and we encourage our members to check it out.