Environmental Groups Urge Iowa to Strengthen Water Standards Amid Rising Cancer Rates

Environmental groups urge Iowa to strengthen water standards amid rising cancer rates

Environmental groups are pressing Iowa regulators for stricter water protections by getting up-to-date with federal recommendations and lowering nitrate limits, alleging that current safeguards are outdated, weak and leave Iowans exposed to toxics tied to rising cancer rates. Nine groups — including the Iowa Environmental Council (IEC), the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Food & Water Watch  — …

Of Corn and Cancer: Iowa’s Deadly Water Crisis

Nick Schutt grew up as a free-range kid in the tiny central Iowa town of Williams in the early 1980s. His parents were small-scale farmers, but when the nation’s steepest agrarian crisis since the Great Depression hit, they worked jobs in town to make ends meet. Nick and his friends would often mount their bicycles in search of after-school adventure amid the corn and soybean fields. Sometimes, they’d find themselves playing behind the abandoned…