54
3.5.2 Chemical Waste Runoff
Not limited to plastic bottles, bags, and wrappers that eventually float out to sea, our
daily output includes other manufactured substances that contribute to dying waterways and oceans. The harm done by visible waste is easier to understand and react
to than that caused less tangible flows. Our agriculture system is based on a foundation of chemical fertilizers that contaminate our waterways. The massive quantities
of synthetic fertilizers used to replenish the nitrogen, potassium, and phosphates
that crops draw from the soil and metabolize in order to grow are fossil fuel dependent. They require high-pressure, high-temperature, high-energy processes to produce and are used in greater amounts each year (Smil 2004). The monoculture cash
crops of wheat, corn, soy, cotton, and softwood lumber all require massive quantities of fertilizer (and pesticides) annually to guarantee the harvest. Without steady
chemical treatment of depleted soils, we cannot grow plants to feed and clothe and
house ourselves. Some are spread as solid granules or sprayed as a liquid. In either
form, they are applied to the surface of commercial cropland by the ton using trucks
or planes. The soil, however, does not absorb these completely, nor do the crops use
all of it. Strictly speaking, this fossil fuel-based way of feeding the plants that sustain us is inherently inefficient.
Excess synthetic fertilizer that is not taken up by the plants does not stay in place
to be used the following growing season; it travels. Along with waterborne pollution
from poorly managed sewerage and septic systems, some of it gets carried away
when it rains either flowing downhill or, if the land is porous enough, through the
hill. Flowing water, along with what it carries, also mixes and mingles downstream
with more water. As rain carries leftover nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and
other nutrients downhill, they can accumulate in the underground aquifers and contaminate wells from which we cook, clean, and drink. What excess that does not get
pulled straight down into our groundwater in lower soil strata ends up as surface
runoff in streams and rivers and eventually flows out into the bays, marshes, and
other coastal waters.
3.5.2.1 The Effect of Nutrient Contamination in Water
The chemical elements that plants require to grow impact the well-being of other
species as well. These elements are normally not found in abundance in waters
where fish and other aquatic creatures live. When chemical nutrients, intended for
surface plants, are introduced into these habitats, the effects are pronounced. Algae,
unintentionally nourished by the excess nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous in
agricultural effluent, multiply in abundance. While alive, they can create a thick
blanket on the surface that blocks sunlight that oxygen-producing underwater plants
need to live. When the algae die, bacteria eat the remains. These bacteria reduce
oxygen levels and produce carbon dioxide to a point where most aquatic animal life
suffocates (NOAA 2020). Additionally, anaerobic bacteria that produce toxins can
3 Trash Can Living
3.5.2 Chemical Waste Runoff
Not limited to plastic bottles, bags, and wrappers that eventually float out to sea, our
daily output includes other manufactured substances that contribute to dying waterways and oceans. The harm done by visible waste is easier to understand and react
to than that caused less tangible flows. Our agriculture system is based on a foundation of chemical fertilizers that contaminate our waterways. The massive quantities
of synthetic fertilizers used to replenish the nitrogen, potassium, and phosphates
that crops draw from the soil and metabolize in order to grow are fossil fuel dependent. They require high-pressure, high-temperature, high-energy processes to produce and are used in greater amounts each year (Smil 2004). The monoculture cash
crops of wheat, corn, soy, cotton, and softwood lumber all require massive quantities of fertilizer (and pesticides) annually to guarantee the harvest. Without steady
chemical treatment of depleted soils, we cannot grow plants to feed and clothe and
house ourselves. Some are spread as solid granules or sprayed as a liquid. In either
form, they are applied to the surface of commercial cropland by the ton using trucks
or planes. The soil, however, does not absorb these completely, nor do the crops use
all of it. Strictly speaking, this fossil fuel-based way of feeding the plants that sustain us is inherently inefficient.
Excess synthetic fertilizer that is not taken up by the plants does not stay in place
to be used the following growing season; it travels. Along with waterborne pollution
from poorly managed sewerage and septic systems, some of it gets carried away
when it rains either flowing downhill or, if the land is porous enough, through the
hill. Flowing water, along with what it carries, also mixes and mingles downstream
with more water. As rain carries leftover nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and
other nutrients downhill, they can accumulate in the underground aquifers and contaminate wells from which we cook, clean, and drink. What excess that does not get
pulled straight down into our groundwater in lower soil strata ends up as surface
runoff in streams and rivers and eventually flows out into the bays, marshes, and
other coastal waters.
3.5.2.1 The Effect of Nutrient Contamination in Water
The chemical elements that plants require to grow impact the well-being of other
species as well. These elements are normally not found in abundance in waters
where fish and other aquatic creatures live. When chemical nutrients, intended for
surface plants, are introduced into these habitats, the effects are pronounced. Algae,
unintentionally nourished by the excess nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous in
agricultural effluent, multiply in abundance. While alive, they can create a thick
blanket on the surface that blocks sunlight that oxygen-producing underwater plants
need to live. When the algae die, bacteria eat the remains. These bacteria reduce
oxygen levels and produce carbon dioxide to a point where most aquatic animal life
suffocates (NOAA 2020). Additionally, anaerobic bacteria that produce toxins can
3 Trash Can Living