Seeks to reduce nutrient levels

by Randy Leonard

    In response to a May 12 order issued by President Barack Obama, the U.S. Environmental Protection agency is soliciting public input on new guidelines intended to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.
    New regulations could impact Dundalk and Edgemere through restrictions to farming and water treatment, potentially improved water quality, as well as increased federal programs for historical and scenic sites.
    “The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure constituting the largest estuary in the United States and one of the largest and most biologically productive estuaries in the world,” the executive order read.
    “Unfortunately, the Chesapeake Bay and many of its tributaries remain in poor health,” the EPA wrote in a draft plan released Monday. “The water  continues to be polluted, populations of oysters are at  an all-time low, and habitats such as underwater grass beds and wetlands are degraded.”
  

Nutrients, in the form of nitrogen and phosphorus, and sediment impact the waters of Chesapeake Bay despite state regulatory standards, according to the EPA. Nutrients cause algae to flourish, choking the oxygen from Bay waters and decimating fish and crab populations.
    Like many, Maryland Watermen’s Association president Larry Simns attests to the depletion of bay habitat. The annual oyster haul has gone from 1.5 million bushels to 150,000, and the soft clam industry has been wiped out, Simns said Monday.
    Simns applauds the efforts of the EPA and feels that state regulators have done little to stem the flow of nutrients from wastewater treatment plants that he says treat bacteria but pour millions of gallons of nutrient-rich water into the bay each year.
    Simns’ organization has advocated a moratorium on building in the state-designated critical areas within 1,000 feet of bay waters until measures are taken to curb the nutrient pollution from treatment plants, he said.
    Among the initiatives in the draft plan, the EPA will “take action to reduce discharge of nutrients from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants.”
    The EPA is seeking to establish Total Maximum Daily Load levels divided among a total of 92 impaired waterways within the states that drain into the bay. Targeted levels would represent waterway-specific “diets” intended to trim excess nutrients and sediment from entering the bay.
    The EPA is holding a series of public input meetings in each of the six states to be affected and the District of Columbia.
    The plan is intended to reduce pollution from farms, suburban and urban runoff and stormwater.
    Under the draft plan, the Department of the Interior will look for opportunities to expand or create new units of systems, including the National Wild and Scenic Rivers system and National Historic Trails system – two items that relate to the Dundalk-Edgemere area through legislative efforts tied to Back River and the designation of the Star-Spangled Banner Trail, which includes historic sites in North Point.

n The draft plan is available at executiveorder.
chesapeakebay.net. A public meeting will be held Dec. 8 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington Blvd., Suite 530, Baltimore.