Muscatine

This whole topic of nitrogen in the gulf and where it might have originated is becoming tiresome. Who really gives a hoot anyway? In the scheme of things, how does this affect people's lives who live here or for that matter, who live anywhere? Will we be building something in which to store Iowa's nitrogen? Will this create jobs? Will the creater of such an edifice pay their 'fair share' of taxes? wtf

Can't you just imagine if the time comes for chemical companies to add reagents or isotopes to nitrogen and other fertilizers and herbicides that are Iowa-specific-sold and used? Then, when cattle, hogs, and sheep eat that fertilized grain, they can only be sold and butchered in Iowa due to the regulations that their piss and meat cannot cross state lines any more, since we want to know which state the chemicals are coming from. Of course, it has to be the same in every state with their own N isotope. What an enormous regulatory nightmare that becomes. Just up the liberal's alley, eh? Regulate more and grow government.

Then, of course, there will have to be an agency that trains all wild animals to piss and poop only in the state where they ate fertilized grain too. Oh, God....what about the migratory bids???? I'll have bird poop on my truck and when I go into another state, I can't let it rain on my truck or that fertilized poop will wash off and the isotopes will get all mixed up and we really won't know where the pollution came from!!! EEEEGads!

I'll give this a try and then get back to explaining how it is measured.

It's killing all sea animals in a huge area of the gulf.   Some are creatures we eat.   If we know the source, we may be able to determine ways to reduce it.   Fisherman and shrimpers back in business.