I'm not sure if agriculutural run-off is the Oregon culprit, but it most certainly is in the case of the Louisiana Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Every summer we get a zone about the size of Delaware that supports no life. Now granted it is only one segment of the water column that has the problem, yet still this is a massive man made disaster. Think of all the fertilizer that Joe and Betty Farmer dump into their soil each year. Think of all the mega farms, all the mom and pops, all of the planted acerage in the area that is drained by the Mighty Miss'sip. ALL of that nitroginous waste collects in run-off water that concentrates into the Mississippi River. By the time it is dumped out into the Gulf (and our man made levees do play a roll in this) the concentrations can be fairly high. The extra nitrogen leads to growth in types of algaes and water plant life that blooms. It then dies, and rots. This rotting eats up the O2 which devestates the wildflife living in those waters.

If Oregon is facing a similar problem I say good luck. Try telling farmers in other states that what they do hurts sea water thousands of miles away from them. Sadly, we don't stand a chance here on the Gulf Coast. No senator or congressman would shoot themselves in the foot by telling farmers to change their ways. Pandering to farmers is what they do best. In the mean time we get a deadzone. Thanks ConAgra, thanks ADM and thanks those who feed this dead zone. Oh well, guess with hurricanes and all getting the headlines the will to help us out has long since vanished...