In case you thought the government doesn't do enough to police polluters around the Chesapeake Bay, the Environmental Protection Agency has pulled together a handy-dandy online display of all the enforcement actions it's taken in the six-state watershed, plus some beyond in the even broader airshed that affects the bay.

The agency's plotted on a map and listed 10 civil judicial settlements it's reached and 36 administrative orders it's issued to alleged bay polluters since 2009.  And there are 28 Superfund cleanups of toxic contamination thrown in for good measure. 

The feds say they've collected more than $7 million in penalties and required polluters to spend $731 million in cleanup and new equipment so far.  The effort has stopped the flow of 2,100 pounds of nutrients into the bay, plus 82 million pounds of sediment.  In addition, the air pollution enforcement actions have halted emissions of 16 million pounds of nitrogen oxides, which could drift over the watershed and deposit more nutrients in the bay.

To see the map and database, go here.  Click on the links in the database, and you can get a summary of each case. To learn more about EPA's bay enforcement strategy, go here.

Keep in mind, the states bear the lion's share of responsibility for enforcing federal environmental laws.  It would be great to see a similarly user-friendly rundown of those cases.   The  Maryland Department of the Environment does put out monthly listings of enforcement actions, plus news releases highlighting certain cases, which you can see here.  And for the state's overall enforcement activity, you can review MDE's 2009 annual report here.