DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is facing a budget deficit, high costs and economic strain from trade disputes that have squeezed farmers.
But problems that have simmered for decades — water quality and cancer rates — have been forced to the forefront of state politics this year. They are the focus of debate questions, roundtable events and campaign advertisements for candidates from both parties, up and down the ballot.
The issue has historically been politically taboo to avoid pointing fingers at the powerful agricultural industry in Iowa, one of the country's top producers of corn, soybeans and hogs. Chemical fertilizers and animal waste contain nitrates and phosphorus that can get washed with rain or snowmelt into the state's web of rivers.
The problem has long caused tension between Iowa's more liberal urban centers, which rely on rivers and lakes for drinking water, and mostly conservative stewards of its rich farmland. Farmers are increasingly participating in practices to prevent runoff, although critics say the lack of regulation forces downstream Iowans to pay for the pollution.
The spotlight has grown — and the political calculus has shifted — after back-to-back years of restrictions on water use in the Des Moines area coupled with a burgeoning "Make America Healthy Again" movement in Iowa's small towns and rural communities.
Cancer rates are a growing problem in Iowa
Iowa has the second highest rate of newly diagnosed cancers in the country. Specific diagnoses, like prostate, breast and lung cancer, are increasing in Iowa faster than in the U.S. overall. It's affecting urban and rural parts of the state.
New state-funded research at the University of Iowa shows most — but not all — of Iowa's above-normal rates for five cancers can be explained by demographic and behavioral factors, such as smoking and binge drinking. Researchers next assess environmental factors, including nitrate levels.
"The real issue is the water and the nitrates," said Democrat Josh Turek, who is running for U.S. Senate, as he talked with cancer patients last week. "Every Iowan deserves when they turn on the tap to ensure that their water is clean and not giving them cancer."
WATCH: As cancer rates fall nationally, Iowa sees a troubling rise in diagnoses
Some studies have found a link between nitrates in drinking water and certain diseases, but it remains an area of debate. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not currently classify nitrates as a cancer risk. The agency initiated a plan to review that assessment in 2017, but it's been stalled, revived and stalled again under different White House administrations.
The Republican congresswoman running against Turek, Ashley Hinson, recently gathered farmers, researchers and local officials to discuss Iowa's water problems. She said there is an ongoing need for investments in infrastructure, water quality monitoring and conservation programs to ensure Iowans have safe drinking water. She also said people can feel safe because treated tap water meets federal regulations.
"We all know that we have some challenges here in Iowa," she said. "I don't think water quality is a partisan issue."
Farm runoff is a key contributor to river pollution — and political tensions
It's been more than a decade since the Des Moines area's water utility, fed up with paying roughly $16,000 per day to remove nitrates from water, sued counties further upstream to get them to help cover the cost. The complaint was ultimately dismissed, and Iowa's Republican leaders celebrated the ruling.
Last year, Central Iowa Water Works issued its first-ever ban on lawn watering to reduce demand on its nitrate removal facilities, and state politicians rejected any suggestion of a "blame game" that would implicate farmers. Iowa had been investing nearly $100 million annually in its nutrient reduction strategy in recent years.
= = =
and amidst all these...
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has backed off its re-assessment of cancer-causing nitrates despite decades of research suggesting the contaminant is more harmful than previously thought and that nitrate pollution is at crisis levels in US drinking water.
The agency would not confirm the assessment was cancelled, but the work has been stagnant for more than two years and the department responsible for it was eliminated. And scientists and health advocates say regardless of whether it has been cancelled or is locked in a lengthy delay — Americans are paying the price with their health.
The EPA set a threshold for nitrates in drinking water more than 30 years ago at a level designed to avoid harming babies after research showed that ingesting nitrates could trigger dangerously low oxygen in babies’ blood, what’s known as “blue baby syndrome.” The EPA announced it would re-assess nitrates — and nitrites — in 2017 to look at other potential health impacts, including cancer, but the work was suspended in 2019 by the first Trump administration.
