A rule protecting Minnesota's groundwater is 30 years in the making. Republicans are fighting it.

Minnesota—especially southern Minnesota—has a nitrate problem.

Nitrates are commonly found in fertilizers, and when too much of them get into drinking water, it can cause a number of health problems in babies and pregnant women—including “blue baby syndrome,” which lowers the blood’s ability carry oxygen and can be fatal.

Almost 10 percent of the wells in vulnerable areas test above the healthy limit, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and the Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP) says more than 50 Minnesota communities have "high" nitrate levels in their drinking water. In Winona County, where MEP director Steve Morse lives, 19 percent of the wells tested exceeded safe nitrate levels.

“It’s really a serious health crisis,” says Morse, who has been working on groundwater protection for nearly 30 years. Minnesota’s fight against fertilizer pollution began in earnest around 1989, with the passage of the Groundwater Act, which gave state government the authority to create a rule limiting usage of nitrogen fertilizer in places it could easily seep into the groundwater.

Read more: http://www.citypages.com/news/a-rule-protecting-minnesotas-groundwater-is-30-years-in-the-making-republicans-are-fighting-it/485660071