RED OAK, Iowa (KMTV) — In March of last year, a liquid nitrogen spill from a plant in Red Oak into the East Nishnabotna River killed more than 700,000 fish.
- Local residents met in Red Oak on Sunday afternoon to form a chapter of Water Defenders, focusing on protecting Iowa's waterways.
- Research links high nitrate levels in drinking water to increased cancer rates, affecting nearly one million people in Iowa.
- Guest speaker Chris Jones, a retired University of Iowa researcher, pointed to studies linking high levels of nitrates in drinking water with cancer rates.
RELATED |Environmental advocates ask feds to investigate Red Oak fertilizer spill
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A year ago, a nitrogen spill from the NEW cooperative plant behind me into the East Nishnabotna River killed all of the fish between Red Oak and the Missouri border.
I'm your Southwest Iowa Neighborhood Reporter Katrina Markel.
I'm in Red Oak because over the weekend, neighbors gathered to discuss what more they can do to protect Iowa's waterways.
Chris Jones: "We have 7,000 wells in Iowa that are polluted with nitrate above the EPA's limit of 10..."
In March of last year, more than 250,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen and ammonia spilled from the new cooperative plant into the East Nishnabotna River. The toxic plume killed approximately 700,000 fish in Southwest Iowa.
Denise O'Brien: "And what's the long-term effects? That was short-term."
Members of the community, like Cass County farmer Denise O'Brien, met Sunday to start a local chapter of Water Defenders — a group worried about the health of Iowa's waterways, including drinking water.
Guest speaker Chris Jones, a retired University of Iowa researcher, pointed to studies linking high levels of nitrates in drinking water with cancer rates.
Chris: "But yet during our football games, what do we do at the end of the first quarter, right? We turn and we wave to all the kids in the hospital. And do we ever think why some of those kids might be in there?"
Clarinda Farmer Seth Watkins: "I think all of us in Iowa care deeply about the small towns we live in."
Jones cited research showing almost a million people in Iowa drink water with elevated levels of nitrates. He also presented possible solutions such as reducing runoff and increasing crop diversity.
