Two reports on the Chesapeake Bay cleanup find virtually no phosphorus pollution reduction in Eastern Shore waterways in the past 10 years and question whether the EPA is over-estimating farm pollutant reductions.
The two-year milestone progress report on the bay effort declared, “partners are making progress in Chesapeake Bay cleanup.” But, as they say, the devil is in the details.
The Environmental Integrity Project reports released Monday says the fine print might suggest all is not so rosy when it comes to Eastern Shore farm nutrient reduction. The EIP has offices in Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas. The nonprofit is a watchdog for environmental issues including coal, oil and gas, factory farms and the Chesapeake Bay, according to its website.
The reports said models used by the EPA and other bay states appear to be overstating the progress farms have made using cover crops, buffer planting and other practices to reduce pollution.
The EPA’s statewide assessment noted the same: “Maryland needs to improve their tracking, verification and reporting of BMPs in order to ensure the practices implemented are achieving the anticipated pollutant load reductions.”
The Environmental Integrity Project reports recommended more precise monitoring and putting a new farm pollution management program in place in Maryland.
“These reports provide a wealth of evidence that Maryland must move forward with implementing its long-promised Phosphorus Management Tool, which is critical to controlling he phosphorus pollution hotspots on the Eastern Shore,” said Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project.
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When you take into account all the new development and growth in the watershed over the past decade, breaking even still means the regs are working, even though we would all like to see a LOT more progress considering out investment.
ReplyDeleteThe solution is already in the works with Agenda 21. Reduce the population by 1/3 to less than 500 million people worldwide, coral everyone to a major city and allow the country side to revert back to forest and grasslands for wildlife and the environment to recover. Overpopulation and poor land management are the problem.
ReplyDeleteAnd only poop into my WWTP so your raw sewage will overflow into he Wicomico River during every rainstorm along with all those Western Shore cities so we can blame more farmers and watermen for the pollution of the Bay. Then that will forgive the Susquehanna polluters because we all know those rocks at the bottom of the spillway are all that's needed to filter the feces out of the water.
ReplyDelete