from the Alexandria Times:

Ken Smith, a leader in the fight to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed, has been hospitalized with a serious vibrio infection commonly known as "fisherman's disease" and believed to be directly related to contaminated marine life and polluted water.

Smith, president of the Virginia Waterman's Association, was admitted on June 14 to Rappahannock General Hospital in Kilmarnock, suffering from a high fever and a badly swollen right arm.

"This reaffirms our belief, as watermen, that the continuing degradation of the Bay and its tributaries has reached the point that it is imperative that dramatic measures must be taken to improve the estuary's water quality," Smith said June 25 from his hospital bed.

Whole thing here.

Posted by Rona Kobell at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

This week we go to a place that even you non-hybrid drivers will find takes far, far less than a tank of gas: Herald Harbor.

Herald Harbor is the place I most wanted to live when I came to The Sun and began covering Anne Arundel County. Technically, it wasn't part of my beat, but I tried to get there as much as I could, if only to drive around and look at the beautiful views of the Severn in the Crownsville neighborhood. It was tucked away, off generals Highway, and unlike neighboring Sherwood Forest, you didn't need a code to get in.

It's not surprising that a newspaperwoman would be curious about Herald Harbor Several years ago, fellow blogger Tom Pelton wrote a wonderful story about it, so I'm not the only one.

As Tom described it in 1999:

William Randolph Hearst would try anything to boost his newspapers' circulation, offering his subscribers racehorses, gold coins, fabricated stories about starving orphans and yellow journalism that ignited the Spanish-American War.

    But the scheme hatched by his Washington Herald was so outrageous that he fired the publisher responsible for it. The Herald built a utopian, all-white summer colony north of Annapolis, used its front page to sell lots in "Herald Harbor" and required those buying land to subscribe to the newspaper.

As Tom told it, "The paper bought 460 acres of hilly peach orchards 5 miles north of the Naval Academy.  The Herald used front-page news stories to sell the lots. The plan was to earn a profit off the real estate deals and offer low prices for the 25-foot-wide lots only to those who agreed to subscribe to the newspaper."

So, the newspaper was the thing of value, and the land was the enticement to get it? My, how times have changed.

The segregated history is painful, to say the least, and the exclusive clubhouses and gambling machines are long gone, leaving Herald Harbor much less a resort and much more a suburb of Anne Arundel.

But there remains something different, and I think hopeful, about this place.

Drive in (no security gate) and you will notice trees on both sides: long, skinny trunks sprouting leaves. I always meant to do a story on the scotch brooms, which bloom around there, but never have. Anyway, it's a lush woods, known as the "green cathedral." It was saved from development by the sheer will of several residents, including one Billy Moulden, who fought to keep it green.

The second thing: You can see new houses: large ones that seem to be constructed entirely of windows and wedged into hillsides, the better to maximize views. But I noticed many, many small fishermen's cottages -- they looked like they couldn't be more than 1000 square feet. A few had "for sale" signs, indicating they wouldn't be small for long. But it is a window into the way we used to live -- and one that is rapidly closing.

Unlike other local travel destinations, I can't give you a really good of things to do in the area.  If you know someone there, maybe you can glom onto their boat privileges. In the meantime, you can get a good, if expensive meal at the Sputnik cafe and hear some nice music at the Ram's Head Roadhouse.

And Annapolis is only about 7 minutes away.

Incidentally, we didn't end up moving there. Too expensive. But I heard something about a housing slump, so maybe prices have dropped....

Posted by Rona Kobell at 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

 New River Through An Old City

Two years after Baltimore spent about $5 million rebuilding the Stony Run, the once-dead stream is alive with frogs, toads, ducks, crayfish...even hardy little fish called black-nosed dace.

And later this summer, the city plans to continue the stream reconstruction project from Cold Spring Lane south past University Parkway, all the way into the Wyman Park neighborhood.  That will be followed by five more stream reconstruction projects that will cost another $5 million to $10 million, according to the Baltimore Department of Public Works.

The first phase of the project was highly controversial, as some critics complained that too many trees were being cut down in a beautiful and much-loved public park.  The project was ugly at first. I know because I live about a block from the stream in the Evergreen neighborhood.  Bulldozers flattened bluffs and placed lines of boulders along the banks to discourage erosion.  Workers built small dams (like the one shown above) to create small ponds, meant to catch runoff pollution.  Burlap-like cloth was draped over the ripped-up sides of the creek.

But over the last two years, the plants have grown back.  The park looks lush and green again.  And in the new ponds, scores of American toads, green frogs and bullfrogs are singing.  No amphibians lived in this stream before the project.

In terms of bringing new life to an urban stream, it's been successful. But one of the main goals of the project was also to filter out pollution and prevent sediment and nitrogen from flowing downstream into the Chesapeake Bay.  Bill Stack, a water program administrator for the city's Department of Public Works, said that water quality monitoring before and after the first phase of the project has so far been inconclusive as to whether it really reduced the amount of nitrogen and silt being washed into the bay.  This is in part because of the variability of rain fall, which makes it hard to compare the runoff before and after. But he said a visual inspection of the stream suggests their banks are eroding less -- which is good for protecting recently-repaired sewage lines nearby.

“Just to walk the stream, you can tell it’s working,” Stack said. “The data is going to take a while to come, because that’s just science…. But there are a lot of universities that are studying the stream, and they have seen tremendous improvements.  We are very happy with it.”

Joel Snodgrass, a biology professor at Towson University and director of the school's urban ecology and conservation lab, introduced 100 finger-sized black nosed dace into the stream in May. He transplanted them from another urbanized stream, the Herring Run, after receiving permission from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The dace survived a few rain storms and started breeding.   He's also identified the calls of the toads and frogs in the stream. (To check out his school's great on-line guide to frog and toad calls, click here... it's fun).  If you go walking at night in the new artificial wetlands behind the Friends School soccer field, you can hear a chorus of high pitched trilling sounds. Those are American toads.  You can also hear the barking, coughing sounds of green frogs. And the deep, low, honking of bullfrogs.

 Bullfrog (from Towson University website)

Snodgrass said there's been a decline in amphibians worldwide, but mainly in pristine woods and tropical settings. Pesticides, herbicides are invasive species are suspected in the disappearance of frogs around the world.

But in urbanized settings, it's a different story.  The particular varieties of frogs and toads found now in the Stony Run thrive with the construction of stormwater control ponds, Snodgrass said.  They do well in streams like this that are fed by water from city streets -- as long as it's not too polluted with road salt.  Bullfrogs can thrive in a built-up environment, like squirrels, cardinals or finches.

There are limits to how much can be achieved in an urban stream, Snodgrass cautioned.  If a creek is getting its water supply from stormdrains, the creek will never be restored to the way it was before hundreds of acres of parking lots and roads were built up all around it.

But the fact that children can now walk home from school in Baltimore and catch toads along the way provides a real benefit, Snodgrass said. The life in the stream allows urban children to connect to the wild and appreciate the outdoors, instead of just staying inside and staring at computer screens. 

The next phase of the Stony Run reconstruction project will start late this summer or early fall, according to city officials.

The stream will be rebuilt from Cold Spring south past University Parkway into the Wyman Park Dell.

Workers will remove wire metal baskets full of rocks that were packed along the stream during an earlier 1980's era style of stream reconstruction.  These metal baskets look like this:

 Wire baskets along stream. (Photo by Tom Pelton)

They were also meant to prevent erosion -- and at the time, they were thought to be more progressive than just making a cement channel to handle storm water running through a city.  And the holes in the wire baskets theoretically allow trees to grow through.  But in reality, not much grows through all this steel and rock. The baskets look highly industrial and unnatural -- and for children playing, they can be painful.  So all this wire will be ripped out, said Stack of the Baltimore Deparment of Public Works. 

“The wire cages were yesterday’s technology, and they haven’t worked that well," Stack said. "We will be removing the cages and grading the slopes and reinforcing them with rock.”

 A section of the Stony Run that will be rebuilt this summer. You can see the wall of rocks held together with wire baskets.

 “It might not appear as natural,” as the first phase of the Stony Run north of Cold Spring Lane, Stack said. “But it will be infinitely better than what’ s there right now.”

Stack said that a pedestrian bridge over the Stony Run south of Overhill and west of Linkwood will remain.  (Which is good, because the scenic bridge is much appreciated by hikers and dog-walkers along this forested stretch.)

But the city workers will be cutting down groves of bamboo along the stream, which gives the area an exotic and shady look.  “Its part of our program to remove invasive species as part of our projects," Stack said. "We know that removing certain invasives increases the likelihood that the native vegetation will survive.”

 This bamboo grove beside the Stony Run will be cut down, as will other non-native plants and trees.

Stack said that he personally likes the way bamboo looks.  But he added: “The experts tell me bamboo is horrific for the environment.”

(On a side note: If there are any experts out there who can tell me why bamboo or non-native species are harmful for water quality, please post a comment at the end of this blog. It makes no sense to me.  I can see why people don't want invasive species -- because they don't want native plants to be crowded out.  But in terms of water quality, you would think that a dense, hardy, thick stand of bamboo would be a good filter for stormwater and prevent erosion).

Next year, the east branch of Stony Run will be rebuilt. It runs through Loyola College and the College of Notre Dame, east of Charles Street.

Five more projects are now being planned for other streams in the city:

1) Maiden’s Choice in West Baltimore.  Near Beechfield Avenue, off Frederick Road.

2) Biddison Run in West Baltimore. 

3) Powder Mill Run in Liberty Heights.

4) Chinquapin Run in North Baltimore.

5) Western Run, below Pimlico Road.

Stack said each project will rebuild about 2,500 feet of stream and cost between $1.2 million and $2 million.

"These waters are considered impaired," Stack said. "And our long term goal is to eliminate those impairments. But we want to do it in a way that maximizes the quality of life for our residents, and protects infrastructure like roads and sewers.”

(All photos, except bullfrog, by Tom Pelton)

Posted by Tom Pelton at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
                    

Some of you wrote in to say you couldn't find the Chesapeake Bay Game at the toll booth, and others called and wondered if they didn't run one this year.

I called Darlene Pisani, the head of communications and marketing at the Department of Natural resources, to see what was going on. She said:

1. Yes, they are still doing the bay game. It's available to be printed online here, and you can get it at your local libraries.

2. One place you can't get it: the toll booth. People have EZ Passes these days, so they don't stop for long. And anyway, it was holding up traffic a bit for the tollbooth clerk to pass them out.

3. Despite lean times in state government, the Bay Game is not in danger. It is made possible by sponsors, not paid for directly with state money, though state staff does put it together.

 4. This year, the Bay Game broadens out its focus a bit. Instead of just noting the things you see on the road to the beach, it includes things from all over the state. It's an acknowledgement that not everyone can get "Downy Ocean" every year, or even at all.

So, it's good to see the game is still available, but you might want to snap up a couple of copies, in case one gets ripped by a bored child. From what I remember last year at our library, they go fast.

Posted by Rona Kobell at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The pressure to lift the federal ban on offshore oil drilling increased yesterday, as Florida Gov. Charlie Christ -- who formerly supported the moratorium -- and President Bush joined Senator John McCain in calling for more drilling.

A House committee is scheduled to vote soon on the hotly contested proposal, which could impact Maryland and Virginia's beaches.  However, even if Congress acts, the states might have the authority to say yes or no to offshore drilling in some areas.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that soaring gas prices are putting the drilling moratorium into play, politically.  "While disputes over drilling are nothing new in Washington, voter anger over high gasoline prices is giving the oil industry a new chance to make its case for greater access to domestic petroleum. A recent Gallup poll shows 57% of Americans support opening up new territories to drilling, while a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll conducted this month shows 59% of Americans say Congress should take the lead on responding to high gas prices. In describing his change of heart, Gov. Crist alluded to those pressures."

States with coastal tourism industries have in the past argued that more offshore drilling could pollute beaches, killing local economic engines.   Other critics of offshore drilling contend that it would be a short-term fix that would hurt the environment without addressing the underlying problem -- too many gas-guzzlers on the road and not enough conservation and alternative energy.

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and one of the Senate’s leading critics of offshore drilling, warned about coastal damage from oil spills. "The Bush-McCain plan is a gift to the oil companies that endangers the economic and environmental health of the Jersey Shore and our entire state,” Sen. Lautenberg said.  “The Bush-McCain drilling scheme chooses Big Oil over American consumers and does nothing to immediately reduce gas prices.  While we have offered real solutions to bring relief at the pump, the Bush-McCain Republicans have blocked our efforts at the behest of the oil companies.” 

Posted by Tom Pelton at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

 IS THIS THE FUTURE OF OCEAN CITY?

With gasoline prices soaring, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is calling for an end to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

This has been a tremendously contentious issue for years, with President Bush also seeking to end the moratorium, arguing that America needs to produce more oil so it's not dependent on hostile foreign governments. Congress has repeatedly scuttled any efforts to end the ban, in part because representatives in Florida and California worry that their tourist beach economies would be destroyed by oil spills.

Now the issue is bubbling to the top of the presidential race.  It could have a major impact on the Mid-Atlantic region, because Maryland's Atlantic coastline, as well as Virginia's, are currently protected by the federal ban.

McCain said yesterday that lifting the ban would "be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis."

"We must embark on a national mission to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gases through the development of alternative energy sources. And, as I said, exploration is a step toward the longer term goal," McCain said in a statement on his web site.

McCain's Democratic rival for the presidency, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, opposes an end to the drilling moratorium, according to an Associated Press story. An Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan, said McCain's "plan to simply drill our way out of our energy crisis is the same misguided approach backed by President Bush that has failed our families for too long and only serves to benefit the big oil companies." To learn more about Obama's positions on national energy policy, click here.

What do you think about this, readers?  Will there be a point at which gas prices will rise so high that Americans will accept drilling off of Ocean City and the beaches of the Outer Banks?  Should more drilling in Alaska's protected areas be considered?  It seems plausible that more drilling could lower gasoline prices somewhat -- at some uncertain date in the future.  But how long would this price moderation last, before demand once again outstrips supply?  Any thoughts?

What makes the topic all the more interesting is that McCain has a history of taking some environmentally protective positions -- urging action on global warming, for example.  Does this remove his green image?  Or is it just practical thinking, in light of the skyrocketing oil prices? 

Posted by Tom Pelton at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
                    

It's that time of year again.

The traffic across the Chesapeake Bay bridge is building, the kids are cranky, it's hot, you're tired, and everyone is in a bad mood.

Bay Game to the rescue!

The creative folks at Maryland's Department of Natural Resources have released their annual bay game. There are mazes, puzzles, fun facts about critters, cool lighthouses to look at and more. it may be just the thing to take everyone's mind off the gridlock. 

If you're tired of playing "count the herons" on the license plates, it could be just the thing. They're available online or at local libraries...

Posted by Rona Kobell at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

 LEGACY OF TAILPIPE POLLUTION

Lead was removed as an additive to gasoline decades ago.  But some scientists are now suggesting that loss of brain function might be showing up now in people who inhaled lead fumes in their youths. The symptoms could be mistaken for senility. 

Dr. Brian Schwartz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is among the researchers suggesting that long-term exposure to pollutants like lead and mercury might cause problems normally associated with aging.

'We're trying to offer a caution that a portion of what has been called normal aging might in fact be due to ubiquitous environmental exposures like lead,' said Schwartz in an article by the Associated Press.

The research suggests long-ago lead exposure can make an aging person's brain work as if it's five years older than it really is. If that's verified by more research, it means that sharp cuts in environmental lead levels more than 20 years ago didn't stop its widespread effects, according to the AP story.

Posted by Tom Pelton at 7:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Her focus is nonpolitical.  As a volunteer with the Jones Falls Watershed Association and other environmental organizations, she educates people about how their lifestyles affect their watersheds.  She gives advice about simple steps folks can take to reduce the amount of runoff pollution flowing into the bay.

Here's one tip from Valerie that deserves special attention, in my urban neighborhood:

Posted by Tom Pelton at 6:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It worked again. 

Great gushes of rain fell last night.  Water flushed over the streets of Baltimore into the harbor.  But this morning, the Inner Harbor glittered, clean and trash free.  A school of striped bass swirled just beneath the surface near the tourist boat docks at the base of the World Trade Center.

This is highly unusual for Baltimore harbor, which normally is bobbing with masses of styrofoam cups and potato chip bags after even the slightest rain.  But during the last few heavy rains -- including the last time I wrote about this subject, on May 13 -- the harbor has also been unusually clean.

A logical explanation is that the trash-collecting machine installed at the Jones Falls stormwater outfall is working.  This is the biggest river flowing into the harbor. Entrepreneur John Kellett in February installed a floating boom across the stream just before it dumps into the harbor near the Marriott Baltimore waterfront hotel. The boom directs trash into an invention that uses hydropower and solar panels to rake up floating trash and push it up a conveyor belt into a dumpster.

 John Kellett and his trash collecting machine

Kellett and his business partner at Clearwater Mills LLC of Pasadena hope to sell the device to the city in October when its test period runs out.  The evidence so far is that it's really working -- and making a clear difference in the harbor.  A waterfront business organization has been urging the city to not only buy this device and keep it going -- but also invest in at least two more, to stop trash from fouling more areas of the city's waterfront.

Posted by Tom Pelton at 3:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

They won't be as intimidating as a gang of Harley riders.  But they will be more earnest.  On their shoulder muscles: tattoos of Al Gore.

A group of at least 100 "Climate Riders" will be wheeling through Baltimore on Sept. 23 to raise awareness about global warming. They start out in New York City on Sept. 20, and finish in Washington DC on Sept. 24, where they plan to press their message that action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For information, click here. The public is free to join.

David Kroodsma, an organizer with the Climate Ride group, said that he hopes more people will start biking and walking to work because of high gasoline prices.  "It's good for the environment, because it means less global warming and air pollution. It's good for land use because when you take cars off the road, you make cities more pleasant and livable.  And there's a health benefit.  You are supposed to get a half hour of exercise a day -- and if you use walking or bicycle riding to do that, we could effectively eliminate obesity in this country at the same time we're saving an incredible amount of gas."

The downside is that millions of people -- especially in suburban areas -- are essentially stranded in areas where it's impossible to get anywhere without a car.  Try to walk to the Wal Mart to buy groceries on a hot day like yesterday, and it would be like the Bataan Death March.  Try to bike in a lot of suburban areas, and you could be run off the road, because there's no shoulder or sidewalks beside the narrow but traffic-heavy two-lane roads.

"It's really easy to bicycle in the city and in rural areas," said Kroodsma.  "But then there's that transition area in the suburbs, where we really need bike lanes."

Posted by Tom Pelton at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Tune in to WYPR 88.1 FM in Baltimore this morning at 9:35 a.m. to hear my latest "Environment in Focus" radio progam.  This week I talk about the billion pounds of manure produced every year by the poultry industry on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and how runoff of this waste is a major problem for the Chesapeake Bay. 

The program describes holes in recent regulations of the poultry industry proposed by the Maryland Department of the Environment.  I talk about improvements that could be made in waste management, as outlined by two Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers, Dr. Ellen Silbergeld and Dr. Jay Graham.

To listen in, click here.   If you miss it on the radio, you can also go to the WYPR web site to listen to digitally recorded versions of this and past programs.

Posted by Tom Pelton at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

After being filibustered by Republicans, a landmark global warming pollution control bill failed in the Senate today by a vote of 48-36. Sixty votes were needed to move the measure forward.

Among the senators voting for the Lieberman/Warner Climate Security Act, which would have created a national "cap and trade" system to fine industries for releasing excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, were Maryland's Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski.

“The Senate leadership deserves a lot of credit for moving a global warming bill as far as they could this year,” said Environment Maryland State Director Brad Heavner.  “We need to go from getting blocked from full consideration of the bill to passing the bill by next year.”

Some Republicans, who slowed the bill's consideration by insisting on reading aloud the text of the 500-page plus bill for many hours, regard the proposal as a giant tax that will cripple the U.S. economy.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) called it the "Climate Tax Bill." "This bill was doomed from the start," he said. "It was obvious that the Democrats were not serious about supporting this bill. This was one of the largest bills ever considered by this Congress and probably the largest non-appropriations bill the Senate has ever considered. This bill deserved a full and honest debate, with amendments offered and voted upon. The American people did not deserve a political exercise geared toward election year politics."

Sen. Cardin appeared at a press conference at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and criticized the Republicans for using procedural tactics to delay and defeat the bill.

"This morning the U.S. Senate took a vote that effectively killed global warming legislation this year. The final outcome was not surprising, but it is still disappointing. It also is not the last word," Cardin said.

"Because of obstructionist tactics, Republican opponents of the bill kept us from considering even a single amendment over the course of an entire week of deliberation on the Senate floor. The Republican minority used extraordinary procedural steps to turn their back on fellow Republican and bill sponsor Senator John Warner (R-VA), and turn their back on the American public who urgently want the Congress to take steps now to reduce dangerous pollution and move our country closer to energy independence," Cardin said.

Six senators who were absent -- including Obama, Clinton and McCain -- issued statements saying they would have voted to continue consideration of the Lieberman/Warner bill.

McCain wrote: “Global climate change is the most important environmental challenge facing not only our nation, but the entire world. I am confident that given the will, the federal government can be a lead advocate for ensuring that America is doing its part to reduce global warming, and join in the global effort that is needed to address this world-wide environmental issue.

Like many of my colleagues, I believe this legislation needs to be debated, amended, improved, and ultimately, enacted. While my schedule precludes me from being in Washington, DC, tomorrow to cast my vote, if I were able, I would vote to invoke cloture on the substitute amendment. That does not mean I believe the pending bill is perfect, and in fact, it is far from it. For example, the provisions to impose Davis Bacon mandates should be removed. Most importantly, it must include provisions championed by Senator Graham and myself that would ensure that nuclear power, a proven and clean energy source, is included among the technologies supported in our efforts to address global warming. Nuclear energy is an emission free source of electricity for the nation, which is why it simply must be part of the comprehensive solution to addressing climate change, and if it is not, I could not support the legislation’s final passage.

Unfortunately, despite the commitment and tireless efforts of the bill sponsors, Senators Lieberman and Warner, it appears that for now, the Senate, at the direction of the Majority Leader, will choose to put politics above policy, and Congress will fail to act yet again on this critical issue. But rest assured, we will not give up until we finally succeed in enacting needed, comprehensive cap and trade legislation to address this urgent problem.”

Senator Obama wrote: "I have a unanimous consent request that I may have printed in the Record a statement of Senator Barack Obama which says if he were able to be present, he would vote to invoke cloture. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: Madam President, I will not be present for tomorrow's cloture vote on the substitute amendment to the climate change bill (S. 3036). However, were I able to be present, I would vote to invoke cloture. Thank you."

Posted by Tom Pelton at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

HILL OF POULTRY WASTE NEAR LITTLE BLACKWATER RIVER ON MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE

---------------------

This is a huge mound of chicken manure that I photographed last week in a farm field on the west side of Egypt Road in Dorchester County, about 50 feet from a ditch that empties into the Little Blackwater River.  My first thought was: What if it rains? Much of this waste -- loaded with nitrogen, which causes algae blooms and low-oxygen dead zones -- could be flushed right down into the river, which leads toward the Chesapeake Bay.

Speckled with chicken feathers, with a powerful reek, the mound was about four feet tall, 75 feet long and 25 feet wide -- roughly as much manure as you could stuff into a tractor trailer.  Nearby, a farmer drove a manure spreader, applying the fertilizer before he planted his crops.

I didn't post this photo because keeping a mound of manure uncovered, near a drainage ditch, is illegal or even unusual. In fact, it's just the opposite -- mounds like this are common all over the Eastern Shore.  That's why Maryland's environmental agency this summer is considering its first  regulations on the poultry industry. It's not a trivial issue. The industry in the state produces about 272 million chickens and about a billion pounds of manure a year, creating runoff that is one of the biggest sources of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

But as I reported in yesterday's paper, the state's proposed new manure management rules have recently been watered down to exempt half of the state's largest chicken operations from permitting requirements.  None of these rules has been finalized yet, and more public hearings will be held in September.

But after farmers complained about the proposed regulations during public hearings this winter, Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration lengthened the amount of time piles of manure could be stored outside from 60 days to 90 days (compared to the 15 days allowed in neighboring Pennsylvania and Virginia).  And in flat areas of the state (like the Eastern Shore's Dorchester County, pictured above) the setback requirement between the spreading of manure and streams was cut in half -- from 100 feet to 50 feet. 

Of course, any kind of setback requirement would be a change from what exists today.  There is no setback rule right now -- and no permitting of poultry feeding businesses.  So right now, putting a pile like the one pictured above 50 feet from a ditch is perfectly legal.  And keeping it outside, in the rain, for as long as you'd like is also legal. 

There are some poultry farmers, and officials at the Maryland Department of Agriculture, who argue that storing piles of manure outside for long periods of time isn't a problem. They say the  manure crusts over, and rainwater washes right off.  But that raises the question: If outdoor storage is fine, then why are taxpayers being asked to pay millions of dollars to help farmers build sheds to contain chicken manure?  If the sheds aren't necessary -- why are we paying for them?

There are two ironies about the waste pile that I photographed on Egypt Road.  No. 1:  Rain could certainly wash this pile into the Little Blackwater River.  But wouldn't the runoff be even worse if you spread the pile out?  That's exactly what the farmer is about to do -- spread the waste over dozens of acres of land to plant soybeans.  Then when it rains, water will run across a large area of thinly-spread fertilizer. Some of the nutrients will be absorbed by corn and soybeans as they grow. But the rest of the fertilizer will seep down into the groundwater, where it will slowly ooze out into the Little Blackwater River.  Is that really better?

Irony No. 2: This property won't be farmland long.  It's owned by Egypt Road LLC and Thomas Land Group LLC, which are controlled by developer Duane Zentgraf. He is planning to build 675 homes on 326 acres of land.  Four years ago, Zentgraf wanted to build much more -- 3,200 homes on 1,072 acres in a huge golf resort and housing development called Blackwater Resort.  But then he was sued by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and neighbors who were concerned about suburban sprawl harming the nearby Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.  And the day before former Gov. Robert Ehrlich lost re-election in November 2006, his administration announced that it would spend more than $10 million to preserve two thirds of the land. That preserved the east side of Egypt Road from development, but not the west side (where I took my picture of the chicken manure heap). This land is still slated for development...but in the meantime, it's being leased out to a local farmer (as it has been for years).

So what would be worse for the Chesapeake Bay?  Piles of manure like this being washed every spring into the Little Blackwater River?  Or 675 homes sprouting up on this farmland?

I tracked down Chip Fleming, the farmer leasing the land who put the manure pile there along Egypt Road, and he was frustrated by some of my questions.  He said none of the manure runs off into the ditch, because he maintains strips of plants along waterways. (I saw grass and weeds between the pile and the ditch).  "There is no runoff there," Fleming said. "People think it runs right off into the ditches and right into the river....But the plants soak up the nutrients before it gets there."

Fleming said he is not a poultry farmer, so Maryland's new proposed poultry regulations would not affect him.  He grows soybeans.  And he said he got the manure from other local farmers, who raise chickens and needed to get rid of it.  Fleming said the manure pile only sat there (where I photographed it) about a week, before he spread it all on his fields. "People like to blame the farmer, but nobody has any problems eating chicken.  I guess they have to blame someone."

Ken Staver, a researcher at the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said it's a complex question whether farmland or development is worse for the Chesapeake Bay.  He said there's a wide range of types of agriculture, good and bad -- and a wide range of development.  But he said that, in general, historically, developed areas tend to have worse water quality.  "It's hard for development to really improve the water quality compared to farmland," Staver said.  "You don't see developed watersheds that seem healthy."

Dru Schmidt Perkins, director of an anti-sprawl organization called 1000 Friends of Maryland,  said development along Egypt Road would be worse than the manure. That's because the blacktop and buildings would be permanent -- while farmland can always revert back to forests and wetlands.

"Paving over that land will have profound and permanent impacts, year after year after year," said Schmidt Perkins.  "Whereas, one load of manure should have very little impact if it's absorbed by the plants and not overapplied. It's a serious but temporary problem."

Perkins said it's not just a matter of nitrogen running off of the land into the waterways.  Once 10 percent of a watershed is covered in pavement, the water temperatures and velocities go up so much "it kills the watershed...all the critters in the water die."

More development would mean blacktop and lawns, which rain water would flush across, washing gasoline and lawn fertilizer into the Little Blackwater River. Plus, there would be hundreds of cars driving back and forth every day, with people tossing garbage out the windows (as they always do) and exhaust wafting into the air.

But Dr. Ellen Silbergeld, a toxicologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the poultry manure is worse than suburban style development.  It's not just nitrogen pollution than runs off of farmland and suburban lawns, she said.  The bigger problem is the bacteria and pathogens in poultry waste, which escape into the local drinking water supplies and streams.  She noted that if hundreds of suburban houses were built on Egypt Road, they would at least be required to treat their sewage -- instead of just dumping it onto the ground. She said poultry manure has at least as much bacteria as human sewage.

“There’s no question the farms would be worse,” said Dr. Silbergeld.  By comparison, in a suburban development, “You can’t just flush your toilets out into the environment.”

The greatest risk to the public, she said, is from drug-resistant bacteria in the poultry waste.  The poultry companies routinely feed the chickens antibiotics to make them grow plumper and to prevent disease. But this practice breeds bacteria that is immune to the drugs -- and when people get infected with these germs, the infections are very hard to cure. The drugs -- crucial in saving lives in hospitals -- eventually become useless.

Lance Price, a microbiologist at Johns Hopkins and colleague of Dr. Silbergeld's, recently co-authored a study with her that was published in Environmental Health Perspectives. The study found that poultry workers in the Delmarva peninsula were 32 times more likely to carry drug-resistant e-coli bacteria than the general public. "Colonization with antimicrobial resistant ecoli may also pose a health risk to poultry workers families and community contacts," Price and Silbergeld wrote.

Silbergeld said chicken waste should be treated to kill bacteria, just as human waste is treated.  Maryland should require treatment of chicken manure in the permits that it is proposing to issue to poultry growers, she said. "The fundamental problem is we have no treatment of that waste, none," Silbergeld said.

Theoretically, this land along Egypt Road south of Cambridge would best serve the Chesapeake Bay if the owner didn't build anything -- and stopped farming -- and allowed the property to revert to forests.

But then, if the land was generating zero revenue, how would the owner pay his taxes and loans on the property?  Maybe he could turn it into a hunting preserve. Or he could sell it to the nearby Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. That, of course, would require taxpayers to foot the bill.  People would have to ask themselves: would it be worth the investment to protect the land and the Chesapeake Bay... and public health?

Posted by Tom Pelton at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)