The pollution levels along the Mississippi River have been on n increase since decades. The reason for this is bad farming practices in the heartland of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri have caused sediment, fertilizer, and pesticides to be carried by rainfall runoff from farm fields into creeks and rivers that feed the big Mississippi River
. Due to continuous pollution along the Mississippi River basin and the Gulf of Mexico, environmental groups in nine states have petitioned the federal government to set and enforce pollution standards. The setting up of pollution standards has become imperative because the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico till date has spread to around 8,000 square miles and is the second largest.
The Mississippi River brings the nutrients from the Midwest to a 6,000- to 8,000-square-mile "Dead Zone" just off the coast, where each summer there is no oxygen for fish and other aquatic life because fertilizers upset the food chain.
The need to protect the Gulf of Mexico from pollution arises as it is a major source for the seafood industry. The Gulf supplies 72% of U.S. harvested shrimp, 66% of harvested oysters, and 16% of commercial fish. Consequently, if the pollution levels continue or increases, fishermen and coastal state economies will be greatly impacted.
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