Green groups seek to defend Bay pollution diet
Six environmental groups announced today that they are going to court to defend the "pollution diet' put on the Chesapeake Bay by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The groups, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife and National Wildlife Federation, have filed a motion in federal court to intervene in the lawsuit filed earlier this year by farming organizations seeking to block the EPA from enforcing the pollution reductions called for under its diet, known bureaucratically as a "total maximum daily load."
The American Farm Bureau Federation and Pennsylvania Farm Bureau complained in their suit, filed in Harrisburg, PA, that EPA lacked the scientific basis and legal authority to order cutbacks in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment from all sources in the six bay watershed states. Those two farm groups have since been joined by the Fertilizer Institute and national organizations representing corn, chicken and poultry growers.
Spokesmen for the green groups argued that science supports the pollution reductions called for by EPA, and that each state has developed its own plan for making them. They contend EPA action is warranted under the Clean Water Act and overdue, as decades of mostly voluntary efforts by states had failed to make the needed cleanup.
"The new Bay TMDL pollution limit is our best chance to reverse course and restore the health of the Chesapeake and the fish and wildlife that rely on it for surivval," said Greg Buppert, attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. Brian Glass, senior attorney with Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) also argued that the farm groups' lawsuit, if successful, would actually hurt farmers by endangering the supply of fresh, clean water for their operations and prevent growers from getting government help in protecting their farms from pollution.
No trial date has been set, but lawyers for the parties are to confer June 28 on the schedule for proceeding with the case, according to Jon Mueller, lawyer for the bay foundation.
(Barley planted as cover crop grows on Eastern Shore. 2008 Baltimore Sun photo by Glenn Fawcett)
Comments
Something has to be done folks. There was a massive hair algae bloom in the upper Potomac last year. I have fished the river since the 1970's and have never seen anything like it. During the early winter a flood carried much of the bloom downstream where it coated riverside trees in a thick mat. I took pictures and sent them to the DNR who said they had never seen anything like it. Of course most of the bloom settled in the Bay where it will decompose, creating even more dead zones. Such destructive blooms will continue unless pollution is lessened.
Posted by: john mathwin | May 31, 2011 3:31 PM