Nitrate Fertilizer Releases Radiation 189xs> EPA Thresholds

"What's the point of having water if you can't drink it or use it for irrigation?"
The study reports that 78 percent of the uranium-contaminated sites were linked to the presence of nitrate, a common groundwater contaminant that originates mainly from chemical fertilizers and animal waste. Nitrate mobilizes naturally occurring uranium through a series of bacterial and chemical reactions that oxidize the radioactive mineral, making it soluble in groundwater.

The High Plains aquifer -- the largest in the United States -- provides drinking water and irrigation for an eight-state swath that stretches from South Dakota through Nebraska and into northern Texas. As California's largest reservoir, the Central Valley aquifer sits beneath some of the state's most fertile agricultural land. According to a 2012 census from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the two aquifers irrigate cropland that accounts for one-sixth of the annual revenue generated by U.S. agriculture....

UNL researchers Karrie Weber and Jason Nolan found that the High Plains aquifer contains uranium concentrations up to 89 times the EPA standard and nitrate concentrations up to 189 times greater. The uranium and nitrate levels of the California-based Central Valley aquifer measured up to 180 and 34 times their respective EPA thresholds.

Study: Two major U.S. aquifers contaminated by natural uranium

Released on 08/17/2015, at 2:01 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Lincoln, Neb., August 17th, 2015 —
http://newsroom.unl.edu/releases/2015/08/17/Study%3A+Two+major+U.S.+aquifers+contaminated+by+natural+uraniu


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