Nov 9, 2009 6:46 pm US/Eastern
EPA Releases Draft Chesapeake Restoration Strategy
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
Environmental pressure on the Chesapeake Bay is bringing pressure from Washington. Maryland and five other states that make up the Chesapeake's watershed have started getting details of what the federal government wants to see cleaned up.
Alex DeMetrick reports foot-dragging is not in the feds' game plan.
The Environmental Protection Agency has been promising a new day for the bay since President Barack Obama took office. Now the EPA is letting Maryland and five other states in the Chesapeake watershed know what's expected in the way of cleanup efforts.
"It will, in fact, put more pressure on the states to either meet those goals or the federal government will step in," said Roy Hoagland, Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The biggest goal is nitrogen reduction. The EPA wants the six states to reduce nitrogen by 100 million pounds. Maryland's share is 20 million pounds. Progress will be evaluated every two years to make sure the goal is reached by a 2025 deadline.
But it's not going to be easy. Nitrogen from treated sewage, as well as livestock waste and fertilizers from farms, will be hard enough to control. Far more difficult is what washes off roads and rooftops every time it rains--runoff that also carries the nitrogen that creates algae blooms and dead zones in the bay.
The EPA draft report is short on specifics of how to meet that challenge, although two years ago, Maryland made it a priority.
Besides the EPA, other federal agencies like the Department of Agriculture and the Interior Department will be active players in cleanup efforts.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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