Killing fertilizer tax hike is a missed opportunity

I wonder how many times we’ve drunk polluted water. The answer is probably more times than we want to know. 

Two out of every five Minnesota lakes, rivers and streams are impaired, and three out of four Minnesotans depend on groundwater supplies that are increasingly polluted with nitrates, according to the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. 

The main source of pollution in our waters comes from agriculture fertilizer runoff. It seeps into the groundwater and gets into our drinking water supply, making it difficult to clean and unsafe to drink. Many Minnesotans are drinking contaminated water  because the state does not have the funds to clean every water source.

Nitrate pollution from agricultural runoff can cause “blue baby syndrome” (despite the name, anyone can catch this disease). This syndrome affects the body’s ability to store oxygen. High nitrate levels, which wind up in drinking water from farm fertilizer runoff, are also connected to higher risk of cancer and thyroid disease. Unfortunately, these facts are not widely known.

Private wells are the main source of drinking water for people in rural, low-income areas. About 1.2 million Minnesotans depend on well water. Of those, 80% do not test their water for nitrate pollution because they are not aware of the problem or cannot afford to do so. Because the wells are privately owned, regulators have a difficult task getting their arms around the problem.

This may sound scary, but the good news is this problem is preventable and some folks are confronting it head-on. 

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, tried to tackle the issue this legislative session by way of a nitrate fertilizer tax that would impose a 99-cent fee on the sale of every ton of nitrogen fertilizer. The money would fund clean water assistance programs.

This policy is a two-fer: We use the tax to discourage the agriculture sector from overuse of fertilizers, and we have new revenue to clean up the pollution. Unfortunately, the Hansen proposal died this year due to strong opposition from agribusiness interests.

The agriculture industry and their allies argue that farmers cannot afford extra expenses. The farm economy is in a constant state of flux given the globalized nature of both inputs and markets — everything from a war in Ukraine to Trump tariffs to the weather can impact their bottom line. 

The way to address this concern is to ramp up funding for sustainable farming practices, rather than encouraging techniques that got us here in the first place.  

A root cause of this environmental and public health issue is lack of education. But we can change that, by asking simple questions like, “Where does my water come from?” 

Start conversations — including with family and friends in agriculture — about protecting our public health and expanding access to safe drinking water. The more we educate ourselves and talk about this issue, the more likely we are to inspire change among our local leaders. 

If we care, they will too.