This mahogany tide, or algae bloom, on Norfolk's Lafayette River was caused by nutrient pollution, a major problem in the Chesapeake Bay system. Chesapeake Bay Foundation View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

Is it time we put ailing Bay on diet?

EPA working on "pollution diet" for Virginia, other bay states

Date published: 10/30/2009

By RUSTY DENNEN

Like an obese patient at risk of a heart attack or stroke, the Chesapeake Bay needs to go on a "pollution diet" to survive, scientists say.

To that end, the Environmental Protection Agency is working with Virginia, five other bay states and the District of Columbia to prescribe a remedy that environmentalists hope will turn the tide in a decades-long battle to bring the bay back from the brink.

The EPA this week announced a series of public meetings around the state--including Fredericksburg--to help it prepare that pollution diet, formally known as a total maximum daily load or TMDL.

The meeting here will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 17 at Wingate Inn.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, a state and federal regional partnership created in 1983, poor water quality, degraded habitats and low populations of many species of fish and shellfish are ongoing problems.

It adds, "The [bay] and its rivers are overweight with nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment from agricultural operations, urban and suburban runoff, wastewater, airborne contaminants" and other pollutants.

John Tippett, executive director of the Friends of the Rappahannock, said the health of the bay depends on reductions in pollutants from runoff and sources such as sewage treatment plants.

Nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer and treated sewage trigger algae growth in the bay, which leads to vast oxygen-starved "dead zones" that cannot support aquatic life. In addition, sediment, a serious problem in the Rappahannock, makes water murky and unable to support plant growth.

FOR has been involved in state TMDLs for local Rappahannock tributaries. But the process for the bay is a much larger undertaking.

"We're going to notify our members, and we'll be following it closely," Tippett said. FOR is part of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, more than 60 organizations pushing for federal leadership to help communities restore and protect local waterways.

"We've been pursuing a voluntary approach for decades, and it hasn't worked," Tippett said. "The [bay] TMDL is the first time we have an approach to cleanup that has substantial teeth across the board."

The effort, a combination of nearly 100 TMDLs for bay tidal rivers, will include limits on nutrients and sediment to meet state clean-water standards for dissolved oxygen, water clarity and algae.

Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin's bill would establish a $1.5 billion grant program for urban and suburban stormwater control and require the EPA to develop a cap-and-trade system to provide incentives for cutting phosphorus and nitrogen pollution. A bill by Rep. Rob Wittman that recently passed the House would add accountability to federal cleanup efforts. The 1st District Republican's Chesapeake Bay Accountability and Recovery Act requires the Office of Management and Budget to prepare a budget for restoration activities in the bay watershed and requires the EPA to develop a management plan that would be updated every three years. The 2010 Interior Appropriations Bill contains $50 billion for bay cleanup, with $19 billion earmarked for regulatory enforcement and accountability.

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Date published: 10/30/2009

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