This year's dead zone, an area of oxygen-starved water that forms annually off the Louisiana coast, is smaller than expected. But scientists and environmentalists say that's an anomaly. They predict it will continue growing because little is done to control the agricultural pollution that fuels it.
This year's dead zone was expected to be the biggest ever due to Mississippi River flooding, but Tropical Storm Don mixed up Gulf waters, reducing the areas of low oxygen. This year's dead zone is 6,765 square miles, an area bigger than Connecticut.
This maybe isn't the biggest dead zone, but it's still well above the goal. The dead zone is detrimental to Gulf sea life and the coastal residents' way of life, and yet EPA continues to rely on the states to do things they have failed to do for well over a decade.
URL: Dead Zone
