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The Susquehanna River flows through Harrisburg, Pa., on |
Watermen should cast a wider net as they contemplate litigation against the commonwealth ["Watermen might sue state over dirty Bay," April 11].
The watermen should include Pennsylvania and New York state within the litigation net.
Even if Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia were able to shut off all their sources of Chesapeake Bay pollution by this time tomorrow morning, the Bay would continue to degrade.
Why? The Susquehanna River. One of the longest rivers on the Eastern seaboard, the Susquehanna has its headwaters in Otsego Lake, central New York state. It winds through the Appalachian Mountains in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland before flowing into the head of Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace, Md.
The Susquehanna River is about 444 miles long--little of which is tidal--and drains an area of 27,570 square miles. By contrast, the Potomac River (383 miles long, 117 miles tidal) drains an area of approximately 14,500 square miles.
The James River, including its Jackson River source, is 410 miles long (tidal downstream from Richmond) and drains an area of 10,432 square miles.
Neither New York nor Pennsylvania is subject
Yet the drainage of a river within their borders that empties into the Chesapeake Bay exceeds the combined drainage areas of the James River and the Potomac River by 2,638 square miles.
New York and Pennsylvania are the biggest polluters of the Chesapeake Bay.
Charter Wells Jr.
Spotsylvania
