Op-Ed Published in The Hill, Written by NEMWI’s Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program (June 26th, 2018)

In a June 2018 op-ed published in The Hill, Eric Heath, the Northeast-Midwest Institute’s Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program, addressed the United States’ tariffs on Chinese exports and China’s subsequent implementation of retaliatory tariffs. He concluded that (1) these tariffs will ultimately affect nitrate levels in water across the country and (2) Americans can expect to pay more for water for two reasons. First, a recent study conducted by the Institute revealed that taxpayers’ utility bills would increase because it would cost small communities millions of dollars to make drinking water safe if they now have to spend (more) money removing nitrate pollution and building a treatment facility. Second, Heath noted that “China is the main buyer of [the] soybeans” that American farmers plant in rotation with corn to curb nitrate runoff.

The full op-ed titled “Hidden Cost of China Trade Water: Polluted Drinking Water in Rural America” can be read here.