The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is the second largest to date at 8,000 square miles. The area of low-oxygen in the northern Gulf is the second largest since 1985. That’s why Environmental groups in nine states have petitioned the federal government in order for the pollution standards in the Mississippi River basin and the Gulf of Mexico to be increased.

Tons of nitrogen and phosphorus flow down the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers and into the Gulf. Much of it comes from fertilizer runoff from farm fields.

A "dead zone" is an area with too little oxygen to support fish, shrimp, crabs and other forms of marine life. According to the Washington Post, only the churning effects of Hurricane Dolly last week, they said, prevented the dead zone from being the largest ever.

The most responsible for this disaster is the nitrogen flowing into the Gulf and spurring the growth of algae.  Zooplanktons eat the algae, excreting pellets that sink to the bottom of the seabed. Their decaying process sucks the oxygen out of the water.

“It’s a very big issue and there just hasn’t been the leadership (from EPA) or the will to step forward to address this problem,” said Jeff Grimes, water resources program assistant director at the New Orleans-based Gulf Restoration Network, one of the petitioners. The EPA intends to reduce the dead zone to 2,000 square miles by 2015. EPA leaders say nitrogen and phosphorus also are found in urban runoff and wastewater discharges.

Important measures must be taken; otherwise the Gulf of Mexico might have to put up with an ecological catastrophe.