Several groups asking EPA to take emergency action to reduce nitrate levels in Minnesota's groundwater

Several groups are asking the Environmental Protection Agency to take emergency action to reduce nitrate levels in groundwater in eight southeast Minnesota counties.

Eleven national and local environmental groups submitted a request Monday to the EPA, saying voluntary measures enacted by state and local regulators have not lowered nitrate levels in the region's groundwater.

The groups want the EPA to intervene under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act in Dodge, Goodhue, Fillmore, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, Houston and Winona counties, where groundwater is vulnerable to nitrate pollution because of porous limestone.

"This contamination poses an imminent and substantial threat to human health, and the problem is not getting any better," the groups said in their request.

MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS CONSIDERING 'RED FLAG' LAW, BACKGROUND CHECK EXPANSION

The EPA is reviewing the groups' request and "will be reaching out to state and local agencies, as well as the petitioners, as we evaluate necessary next steps," the agency said in...