Research

Manure Overload

May 28, 2020

In almost all of Minnesota's farm counties, the combination of manure plus commercial fertilizer is likely to load too much nitrogen or phosphorus or both onto crop fields, threatening drinking water...

Water

Nitrate: Trouble in Farm Country

April 13, 2020

More than 2 million Americans in hundreds of small, mostly rural communities are drinking water with levels of nitrate that increase the risk of some cancers, according to a recent comprehensive...

COVID-19

Water

Coronavirus Economic Stimulus Bills Should Tackle Failing U.S. Tap Water System

April 13, 2020

By spending billions to upgrade the nation’s failing water infrastructure, Congress can create tens of thousands of jobs and significantly improve the safety of drinking water supplies.

In the face...

Water

In Minnesota’s Farm Country, Nitrate Pollution of Drinking Water is Getting Worse

March 4, 2020

Nitrate contamination of drinking water is getting worse in much of rural Minnesota, an Environmental Working Group analysis of state data found.

EWG Study and Mapping Show Large CAFOs in Iowa Up Fivefold Since 1990

January 21, 2020

The number of large concentrated animal feeding operations, or large CAFOs, in Iowa increased nearly fivefold in the past two decades, a new study from Environmental Working Group reveals, with almost...

Tap Water for 500,000 Minnesotans Contaminated With Elevated Levels of Nitrate

January 14, 2020

Drinking water for an estimated half a million Minnesotans is drawn from groundwater contaminated with elevated levels of nitrate, a toxic pollutant that is linked to cancer and is especially...

Water

Nitrate in U.S. Tap Water May Cause More Than 12,500 Cancers a Year

June 11, 2019

Nitrate pollution of U.S. drinking water may be responsible for up to 12,594 cases of cancer a year, at a cost of up to $1.5 billion for health care, according to a new peer-reviewed study by the...

Conservation

Cover Crops: Reducing Farm Runoff While Saving Soil

May 17, 2019

In the summer, millions of lush green acres of corn and soybeans blanket the Midwest. Come fall, many harvesters scrape crop fields until they are black and barren, exposing large swaths of vulnerable...

Water

Explosion of Unregulated Factory Farms

April 9, 2019

The Maumee River, overloaded with fertilizer and manure, is the single largest source of the phosphorus that triggers blooms of toxic algae in Lake Erie. Over half of the manure in the Maumee River...

North Carolina

Under the Radar

February 13, 2019

Although North Carolinians' attention has rightly been focused on the state's dense concentration of factory swine farms – concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, which produce 10 billion...

North Carolina

And Manure for All

December 13, 2018

North Carolina's dense concentration of approximately 6,500 confined animal feeding operations, often called CAFOs, annually generate two million tons of dry chicken waste and 10 billion gallons of...

America’s Nitrate Habit Is Costly and Dangerous

October 2, 2018

America has a serious problem with nitrate contamination of drinking water – and it is most severe in the small communities that can least afford to fix it.

Glyphosate

Children’s Health

Breakfast With a Dose of Roundup?

August 14, 2018

Popular oat cereals, oatmeal, granola and snack bars come with a hefty dose of the weed-killing poison in Roundup, according to independent laboratory tests commissioned by EWG.

Food

Food Chemicals

Decoding Meat and Dairy Product Labels

June 29, 2018

Most animals raised for meat, milk and eggs are on industrial farms that contaminate our air, soil and water. These farms rely heavily on antibiotics and other synthetic treatments to boost outputs...

Water

Toxic Algae

Across U.S., Toxic Blooms Pollute Lakes

May 15, 2018

In 2010, there were just three reports of toxic blooms in the U.S. In 2015, there were 15, including the largest to date in Lake Erie, although the bacteria did not get into Toledo's drinking water...

Polluted Runoff: A Broken Promise Threatens Drinking Water in the Heartland

April 18, 2018

The 1985 federal farm bill created a conservation compact between farmers and taxpayers. In return for generous farm subsidies, farmers agreed to take steps to cut erosion and polluted runoff from...

Case Study: Corn Belt Communities Plagued by Nitrate in Tap Water

February 1, 2018

In December 2015, the 1,500 residents of Erie, Ill., received a warning that the community's tap water should not be given to babies under 6 months old, or used to mix formula or juice for those...

Case Study: Iowa Cities Struggle to Keep Farm Pollution Out of Tap Water

January 11, 2018

The Raccoon River in central Iowa runs through one of the most intensely farmed regions of the nation. Agriculture is vital to the area's economy, but polluted runoff from farms poses an acute threat...

Farm Subsidies

Double Dipping: How Taxpayers Subsidize Farmers Twice for Crop Losses

November 14, 2017

After a decline in crop prices in 2014 and 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture boosted farmers' income by more than $13 billion through two newly enacted subsidy programs. But during the same...

Conservation

Less Farm Pollution, More Clean Water

September 20, 2017

The federal farm bill is scheduled for reauthorization in 2018. The conservation title of a new farm bill is a remarkable opportunity to jump-start progress toward clean water, clean air and a better...

Conservation

‘Retired’ Sensitive Cropland: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?

June 7, 2017

The environmental, public health and natural resources problems plaguing American agriculture are daunting and getting worse. Shifting environmentally sensitive land out of row crop production is one...