By PAMELA WOOD, Annapolis Capital
Published 06/03/10
About 30 people gathered at Annapolis City Dock on Wednesday morning - many arriving in a flotilla - to demand more stringent pollution rules and tougher enforcement from the government.
"We need to take much bolder action," said former Annapolis state senator Gerald Winegrad, an organizer of the group.
The group laid out a 25-point plan for restoring the beleaguered bay, including:
* Setting strict and enforceable pollution limits.
* Enacting sanctions for pollution sources that exceed limits.
* Reducing pollution from farms.
* Curbing polluted stormwater runoff.
* Replacing old septic systems.
* Upgrading sewage plants and preventing sewage overflows.
"It's not a perfect list, but it's a darned good list," said Tom Horton, an Eastern Shore-based author.
A total of 55 self-described "senior scientists and policy leaders for the bay" from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania backed the 25-point plan.
Notable signees include former governors Harry R. Hughes and Parris N. Glendening, former congressman Wayne Gilchrest and former U.S. senator Joe Tydings, as well as riverkeepers, academics and leaders of environmental organizations.
In addition to the group that gathered at City Dock yesterday, a lobbying group called the Choose Clean Water Coalition also asked for stronger government action yesterday.
Ways to improve the bay
A group of "senior scientists and policy leaders for the bay" have offered a 25-point plan for restoring the health of the ailing Chesapeake Bay.
Some of the key suggestions:
* Pollution reduction plans created by the states need to include reductions from "nonpoint" sources such as farm runoff and urban stormwater runoff.
* Rules governing operations at animal farms should be expanded to cover more small livestock operations.
* Animal manure used to fertilize farm fields should be used within 24 hours.
* Fertilizer use should be reduced on lawns, public lands and golf courses. Phosphorus should be banned in fertilizer.
* Land preservation money should be used to buy wetlands and farmlands, especially near the bay and its rivers.
* Inspections should be mandatory for septic systems, and new and replacement septic systems should be required to have nitrogen-reducing technology.
* Sewage plants should have strict discharge limits. Sewage systems need upgrades to prevent overflows.
The 130-member coalition - whose membership overlaps with the City Dock advocates - issued a statement saying it's time to institute "the strictest possible pollution standards."
"As we've learned from past cleanup plans, words matter little when they are not backed up with results. We need our elected officials to be accountable and deliver on the promises they are making," said Hilary Falk, manager of the Choose Clean Water Coalition.
Both groups want to see decisive, bay-saving actions from the Chesapeake Executive Council, the body that leads the official government bay cleanup effort.
The council - made up of governors from the states surrounding the bay, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a representative of state lawmakers - is meeting in Baltimore today. Members are scheduled to join schoolchildren in restoring a city wetland and then to unveil "a new accountability system."
After years of slow progress on the bay, the federal government has kicked its efforts into high gear over the last 12 months.
The feds are leading the way to create a "pollution budget" or "pollution diet" that will set out how much pollution can flow into the bay and its rivers. Each state will have to create plans to comply with the new pollution limits.
If states can't comply with the new limits they could face sanctions, such as the lose of federal money.
Meanwhile, the federal government is promising to do a better job controlling pollution on its own property, as well as writing up new rules governing animal farms and urban stormwater.
These efforts are all an attempt to rescue the Chesapeake Bay, which is on the nation's list of "impaired waters."
The Chesapeake and its rivers suffer from a huge influx of sediment and nutrient pollution.
The nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus - coming from septic systems, sewage plants, farms, urban pavement, fertilizer and air pollution - fuel the growth of algae blooms, which suck life-sustaining oxygen from the water. And sediment clouds the water, smothering oysters and vital underwater grass beds.
Former state senator Bernie Fowler of Calvert County, a legendary figure in the effort to save the bay, compared the attempts to restore the Chesapeake to running a relay race.
Addressing the federal government, he said the baton is in its hands now. "Run and don't you drop it," he said. "We cannot afford to lose this precious resource."
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