Wayne Sallee wrote:

In a low oxygen environment bacteria converts nitrate into nitrite, and
in a low oxygen environment bacteria converts nitrite into nitrogen gas.


OK, did a little research, and here is what happens:

Nitrate is reduced to nitite by the enzyme nitrate reductase.
Nitrite is then reduce to nitric oxide (NO) by nitrite reductase.
Nitric Oxide is then reduced to Nitrous Oxide (N20) by nitric oxide
reductase.
Nitrous Oxide is then reduced to atmospheric nitrogen (N2) by nitrous
oxide reductase.

So, it goes like this:

NO3--NO2--NO--N2O--N2

singing
We got to... eliminate the oxygen... accentuate the nitrogen
/singing

So, while it is correct to say that nitrate gets reduced to nitrite in
an anaerobic environment, that is in fact only the first step in a chain
that eventually leads to N2.