Spare the farms
Today's hearing on the Chesapeake Bay was a wide-ranging discussion about the usual issues: we've made progress upgrading our waste-water plants, but we need to do more on septics, and we need more money for cover crops.
But some delegates on the Environmental Matters Committee got the feeling that the panel -- which included Planning Secretary Rchard Hall and then deputy secretaries Eric Schwaab (DNR) Buddy Hance (Ag) and Robert Summers (MDE) were coming down too hard on farmers. Farmers, it has been well documented, contribute a significant part of the pollution to the Chesapeake Bay through their fertilizer, though development is growing as a source of pollution.
Del. Anthony O'Donnell (Republican, Southern Maryland) "From 1985-92 we saw severe vilification of the agricultural community. ....There was a respite for awhile. It felt like the beatings had stopped. It looks like the beatings are about to start again."
Del. Richard Sossi ( Republican, Eastern Shore), "In the long run, I think we could be hurting ourselves by focusing on farmland instead of on growth."
Del. Paul Stull (Republican, Frederick County) "We keep pounding on the agriculture community, and we've got septic systems lining the bay."
(Stull did not mention that many farms are on septic systems, too, and some of those are farms on the water.)
There is no finger-pointing, the panelists insisted. We're all responsible for the shape the bay's in.
After the hearing, Bill Dennison, a veep at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, reminded me that the Choptank River is the second-most polluted in the state, according to his recent study. Much of the Choptank is farmland, and though development is becoming an issue, fertilizer is still a major problem. This information comes directly to us from monitoring in the river. Despite the fact that many people would rather have farms next to them than housing developments and that it is easy to sympathize with the farmer, the fact is that even well-managed farms still contribute some pollution to the bay.
I had a story in last month's Sun on the Choptank, but it's not on the web site anymore. If anyone wants to see it, email me and I'll send it to you...
Comments
Farmers are an easy target for often left-leaning politicians. It's easy to go after someone, especially in Maryland who generally make up a small conservative minority. As I mentioned previously, farms DO actually matter - they grow the food we eat and the organic components for myriad products we use. The people who pick on farmers as being polluters are not helping. It's easy to criticize someone and even easier to not have any kind of alternative. OK -so farms pollute, anyone have a better idea how to grow crops at the same levels of productivity? These same people are the ones who told us nuclear power was bad and so was oil and never had any alternatives. The result? Skyrocketing electricty prices and no new oil refineries. Good job.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | January 25, 2008 11:53 AM