Annapolis—On Tuesday, August 11, over four hundred concerned citizens urged a top EPA official to commit to enforceable pollution limits in upcoming Chesapeake Bay clean-up plans. Chuck Fox, Senior Advisor to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, heard from the crowd of Marylanders that it is past time for effective accountability in our restoration efforts and all eyes are on EPA.
“After twenty-five years of minimal enforcement on the biggest sources of pollution, the Bay is still dangerously sick,” said Brad Heavner, State Director of Environment Maryland, a statewide citizen-based environmental advocacy group. “If we want a Bay where anyone can swim and fish, where the water is full of life, where our crabs, oysters, and rockfish are once again healthy and abundant—then we need EPA to get tough and chart a new course for Bay clean-up.”
Chesapeake Bay Foundation President Will Baker spoke of this moment in history as a potential turning point for the Bay. “The continued delay is unacceptable. EPA must immediately do everything in its power to reduce the pollution to the Bay. We must be resolute in insisting that the water quality plan required by President Obama’s Executive Order outlines a series of aggressive actions to clamp down on all polluters in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We now have an historic opportunity to put an end to the pollution. Let’s not squander it.”
The town hall took place less than a month before Sept. 9, the due date for draft clean-up plans by the EPA and other federal agencies. President Obama directed the creation of these plans in his Executive Order from May 12th. The order was an unprecedented show of presidential leadership, giving the EPA a chance to revitalize ailing restoration efforts.
Rev. Rick Edmund of Smith Island highlighted how our lives are intertwined with the health of the Bay. “Like many other communities around the Bay—maybe more so—Smith Island residents depend upon the health of the Bay for our livelihood and even existence.”
Across the watershed, agriculture, sewage treatment plants, and urban runoff put too much nitrogen and phosphorus into the Chesapeake Bay. These pollutants lead to the formation of a dead zone each summer in which almost nothing can survive. After twenty-five years of unenforced goals to cut pollution, nitrogen levels remain basically unchanged and are still 40 percent higher than the Bay can handle.
While the challenge with Bay restoration is considerable and involves many players, the solutions are well understood and achievable. The biggest hurdle is the failure to use the powers of the Clean Water Act. By setting strict standards for pollution reduction, accountability, and consequences for failure, the EPA could finally begin to ratchet down pollution from all sources.
The largest wedge in the pollution pie is agriculture, but that sector is also where we could implement the most cost-effective solutions. “Science has identified what needs to be done, but we have lacked the will and the means to do it. Sustainable agricultural practices can be profitable, renew soils, and capture carbon needed to limit climate change as well as reduce excess nutrients,” said Dr. Don Boesch, President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Once EPA finalizes their draft plans, an open comment period will give the public further opportunity to weigh in on federal action.
