Study Offers Clue to Reducing Coastal Pollution

For seaside communities reducing their pollution, nitrogen is a prime target. Often found in agricultural runoff and human waste, nitrogen and the nitrogen-containing nitrate molecule can enter coastal waters as a critical nutrient for algae. Its abundance leads to a surplus of algal blooms, upsetting delicate balances of plant and marine life.Many South Florida communities dispose of treated wastewater — which contains nitrate and more — by shallowly injecting it into the ground below the groundwater table. Microbes living in the groundwater within the porous limestone bedrock convert and consume wastewater-derived nitrate to nitrogen gas or ammonium. But underground microbes