The production of ethanol is creating more than just fuel.

In order to grow the corn crop, many nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides must be used. This causes an increase in contaminated run-off that creates dead-zones, or areas of water that lack oxygen as well as a contaminated water supply. These effects resulting from the toxic run-off are leaving a strong impact. Dead zones occur at the floor of the ocean and essentially destroy the habitat for marine life. In essence, the rain washes the fertilizers and pesticides into nearby water that later flows to rivers and oceans. The consequences of this are algal blooms that form in abundance in these areas and create dead zones by reducing the oxygen. Specifically, the central part of the United States is contributing to this. The central U.S. holds the Corn Belt, or area of the country where most of our corn is produced. The run-off from these lands mostly flows into the Mississippi River Basin, then into the Gulf of Mexico. This flow has created a seasonal dead zone in the Gulf. Precious drinking water is also at risk of contamination. In 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey discovered that over half of the watersheds in the U.S. had high levels of nitrogen and pesticides. Of these watersheds, 20 percent were deemed undrinkable by the Environmental Protection Agency. Without a doubt, ethanol is playing a huge rule in our fuel supply, and its continued production is inevitable. However, the environmental effects from the use of fertilizers and pesticides are aspects of corn ethanol that must be altered in order to protect the Earth. Source: "Corn Ethanols Threat to Water Resources." Ucsusa.org. Union of Concerned Scientists, Oct. 2011. Web. Nov. 2012. <http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/clean_energy/ew3/corn-ethanol-andwater-quality.pdf>.