Chesapeake Bay News

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and its partners are calling on the federal government to conduct a comprehensive scientific analysis of  the cumulative impacts of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation in the six Bay states, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Virginia.

The first action was to file a legal petition, under the National Environmental Policy Act, calling for that comprehensive analysis, called a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, of the risks and cumulative impacts of the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation in the Chesapeake Bay states. Once the analysis is complete the petition calls on the government to make appropriate decisions about the need for new regulatory action.

The petition was signed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Shenandoah Valley Network, The Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, and Friends of the Upper Delaware River.

CBF also sent a letter to President Obama in support of the legal petition, signed more than 120 businesses, organizations, elected officials, and individuals who are extremely concerned about the unknown consequences and cumulative impacts of natural gas extraction from the Marcellus shale formation on the environment, drinking water and human health, and America’s treasured lands such as our national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges. Signatories to the letter include Audubon Pennsylvania, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture), the Mid-Atlantic Council Trout Unlimited, The Garden Club of America, and American Rivers.

While natural gas in the Marcellus shale offers an abundant source of domestically-produced energy that can create jobs and provide income, the history of resource extraction in this country is littered with long-lasting environmental degradation and risks to human health.

Drilling is already causing damage, to both human health and the environment. There has been contamination of drinking water wells, gas bubbling up into the Susquehanna River, spills of fracking water and diesel fuel, fires, blowouts, and explosions.

“The law is clear that the federal government is required to undertake a comprehensive study if activities like Marcellus drilling are likely to affect the environment through the release of hazardous substances, result in significant cumulative adverse impacts on local air quality, or significantly affect important resources including wetlands, aquifer recharge zones, or fish or wildlife habitat,” said CBF attorney Amy McDonnell. “It is good science and good business to get the facts and that is what we are seeking. Nothing less than human health is also at stake.”

In many of the Bay states, most notably in Pennsylvania, natural gas wells are being permitted at breakneck speed with scant regard to the cumulative damage that is occurring, or support for the affected communities. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the state issued over 1,900 permits for Marcellus shale drilling in 2009. In 2010 it issued over 3,300 more. And, in the first two months of 2011, Pennsylvania issued an additional 590 permits. If that pace continues, Pennsylvania will approve over 3,500 new permits this year alone.

A preliminary report from the Academy of Natural Sciences tested water, and looked for sensitive insects and salamanders in areas with no wells, few wells, and high numbers of wells. It found that as the number of wells in an area increased, water quality deteriorated, and the number of insects and salamanders decreased by 25 percent. In a press statement Dr. David Velinsky of the Academy of Natural Sciences said, “This suggests there is indeed a threshold at which drilling—regardless of how it is practiced—will have a significant impact on an ecosystem.”

“With 35 national parks within or near the Marcellus Shale formation, including nine in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the threats to our national treasures are great,” said Cinda Waldbuesser, senior program manager for NPCA’s Pennsylvania field office.  “The economic benefits of natural gas development must not compromise the long-term benefits of protecting water quality and preserving our national parks, which are already economic generators for local communities.”

The Executive Order issued by President Obama in 2009 says, “Restoration of the health of the Chesapeake Bay will require a renewed commitment to controlling pollution from all sources as well as protecting and restoring habitat and living resources, conserving lands, and improving management of natural resources, all of which contribute to improved water quality and ecosystem health. The Federal Government should lead this effort.”

And though there are several risk assessments underway, none is comprehensive or complete. The cumulative effects of pollution from Marcellus shale drilling activities currently underway or proposed in the future have not been assessed or factored in to any of the state plans to reduce pollution.

source: Chesapeake Bay Foundation

The Chesapeake Bay is showing encouraging signs of rebounding but is still in critical condition as a result of pollution, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) 2010 State of the Bay Report. The report comes as the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to release its pollution budget designed to reduce pollution and dramatically improve water quality.

“That the Bay is getting better is a huge development, but sadly not the whole story,” said CBF President William C. Baker. “Dead zones, fish kills, and water contact advisories are constant reminders of how far we still must go.”

The numeric index of the Bay’s health jumped three points from 2008 to 2010, with eight of 13 indicators rising. The indicator for the health of the blue crab population spiked 15 points, as the Bay’s population increased significantly last year. Also, underwater grasses showed steady progress over the past four years.

But the overall health index of the Bay is 31 out of 100, which means it is still a system dangerously out of balance.

The report is a comprehensive measure of the Bay’s health, evaluating 13 indicators: oysters, shad, crabs, striped bass (rockfish), underwater grasses, wetlands, forested buffers, resource lands, toxics, water clarity, dissolved oxygen, and phosphorus and nitrogen pollution. CBF scientists compile and examine the best available historical and up-to-date information for each indicator and assign it an index score and letter grade. Taken together, these indicators offer an assessment of Bay health.

The unspoiled Bay ecosystem described by Captain John Smith in the 1600s, with its extensive forests and wetlands, clear water, abundant fish and oysters, and lush growths of submerged vegetation serves as the benchmark, and would rate a 100 on CBF’s scale.

“We are at a tipping point,” Baker said. “If EPA stands firm, and the states deliver on their commitments, the Bay will become resilient and bountiful. At the same time, reducing pollution will create jobs and improve local economies.”

By the end of December, EPA must issue a pollution diet for the Bay watershed called a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The TMDL is required under the federal Clean Water Act and court rulings.

This diet will require Maryland and other Bay states, and ultimately each local jurisdiction, to ratchet down pollution to local creeks, rivers, and the Bay from all sources, including farms, sewage treatment plants, urban and suburban streets, parking lots and lawns. State and local governments will be held responsible for those reductions or potentially lose federal funding and be denied federal permits.

The Bay states and the District of Columbia were required to submit a Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) to EPA specifying how it planned to meet the new pollution diet. The preliminary version of the each jurisdiction’s plan was deficient in specific details, the agency concluded. CBF has urged the EPA to stand firm in its expectations and to impose consequences on jurisdictions that fail to establish and fully implement plans that meet pollution reduction goals on schedule.

“We applaud Maryland for creating a substantial and high quality WIP, and for the work put into producing the document. This high level of dedication will be needed from all leaders over the next 10 years if we hope to see a restored Bay,” said CBF Maryland Executive Director Kim Coble.  “Maryland will need to aggressively pursue a number of commitments in its Bay clean-up plan. For example, to get pollution reductions from agriculture the state must continue funding cover crops, but also must target that funding to fields where manure is applied and corn is grown. We look forward to working with the state to ensure the WIP produces real results.”

The copy of the full report is available at: www.cbf.org/sotb2010.

source: Chesapeake Bay Foundation

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is applauding President Obama’s decision not to pursue offshore drilling on the Eastern Seaboard.

“The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure, and drilling offshore poses unjustifiable risks to the Bay, its living resources, the tourism economy, and the many jobs dependent on clean water.  Watermen dependent on blue crabs are especially at risk.  A spill could devastate the crab industry,” said Roy A. Hoagland, CBF Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration. “The President is right in saying ‘no’ to offshore drilling along the Eastern Seaboard.”

The waters off the mouth of the Bay are indistinguishable both biologically and hydrologically from the Chesapeake. Ninety percent of the blue crab population utilizes those waters during the early life cycle stages. The crab larvae can float miles out into the ocean at the top centimeter of the water column (vulnerable to even the smallest oil spill) after they are spawned at the mouth of the Bay.

Last March, when President Obama called for the opening of oil and gas drilling leases off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, CBF immediately opposed the proposal.

source: CBF press release

Kim Coble, Maryland Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), has issued the following statement regarding the final Maryland Watershed Implementation Plan:

“CBF has completed a preliminary review of Maryland’s plan. We commend the state for providing additional details and timelines, and for the hard work of staff. But the state has not completed the job, yet.

“We applaud concrete steps in the plan to reduce pollution from suburban lawns, to hold wastewater treatment plants accountable for reducing nitrogen pollution, and toward improvements in phosphorous management on farms.

“But we remain concerned that the plan falls short of providing reasonable assurance the state can meet its goals, including goals to reduce pollution from agriculture and from stormwater. The state appears to have postponed difficult decisions and actions pertaining to these and other areas.

“A strong plan to clean our creeks, rivers, and the Bay could create potentially thousands of jobs for Marylanders. But thousands could lose their jobs, especially in the seafood industry, if Maryland falters, and our water remains fouled by pollution.

“Recent surveys show the public’s strong feelings that Bay states must abide by the Clean Water Act and act forcefully to Save the Bay. We hope Maryland will work with the Environmental Protection Agency to satisfy that desire.”

source: CBF press release

Ann F. Jennings, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Virginia executive director, issued the following statement regarding the Commonwealth of Virginia’s final Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 29, 2010:

“The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) has reviewed Virginia’s revised Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), and we are encouraged by the new commitments outlined in the final plan. We acknowledge that the Commonwealth has made many changes to the initial draft WIP, and we applaud the state’s commitment to this process, understanding that many state workers spent their Thanksgiving holiday working on the final plan.

“As CBF urged, the Commonwealth specifically commits to significant additional pollution reductions from wastewater treatment plants in the James River basin. As many have noted, obtaining nitrogen and phosphorus reductions by upgrading wastewater treatment plants is among the most cost-effective and accountable tools available. Virginia has committed to obtain up to 6 million additional pounds of nitrogen pollution reductions from wastewater, which will result in improved water quality for the Bay and Virginia’s rivers. It should especially benefit the lower James River, which for years has been plagued by algae blooms from excess pollution.

“The plan also obligates the Commonwealth to greater pollution reductions from stormwater running off urban streets and parking lots by mandating reductions in state permits for large city stormwater systems. Runoff from our cities and homes remains the only source of water pollution in Virginia that continues to increase and therefore must be aggressively addressed if restoration of the Bay and our local streams is to succeed.

“Unfortunately, while the revised plan includes many more promising ideas for reducing polluted runoff from Virginia farms, it continues to lack commitments that such reductions will actually be achieved. The WIP calls for farms to implement “resource management plans” to reduce pollution but does not mandate what those plans should include and requires them only if adequate funding is available. Unlike the clear commitments to reductions from the wastewater sector, Virginia has not provided the same reasonable assurance from the agriculture sector. Because of this shortcoming, we anticipate that EPA will have no choice but to impose backstop TMDL measures, which could result in increased EPA oversight in order to comply with the Clean Water Act.

“Regrettably, the Virginia WIP continues to characterize the Bay cleanup plan as an unfunded federal mandate, ignoring:

- Virginia’s Constitution and State Water Control Law require state government to ensure clean water for all Virginia citizens by developing and implementing cleanup plans identical to those now called for by EPA, and

- Recent statewide polling shows vast majorities of Virginia voters believe providing clean water is an important function of state government.

“CBF applauds the Commonwealth’s efforts to improve the WIP and urges Virginia and EPA to continue working to resolve outstanding issues, particularly regarding agriculture runoff pollution, and ultimately to ensure a Virginia plan that achieves clean water and a restored Bay.”

source: CBF press release

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is competing in the Pepsi Refresh Project competition to win a grant to boost environmental education throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A Pepsi Refresh grant would support expenses for 4,500 students to learn outside, including a transportation stipend for 1,125 underserved urban & rural students to travel to any of CBF’s 15 outdoor classrooms during 2010-11.

“A day spent learning outside, paddling a canoe, sailing on a historic oyster vessel, working a Chesapeake ‘deadrise,’ or touring a farm, shouldn’t be just for fortunate children. This grant would significantly boost the number of students we could serve in our outdoor learning programs,” said Don Baugh, vice president for environmental education at CBF.

Pepsi Fresh is expected to award $15 million in grants this year to support ideas that improve local communities and the world. The money is awarded to groups that receive the most votes. The public can support CBF’s application by voting at http://www.refresheverything.com/outdoorclassrooms

CBF is competing for a $250,000 grant that would cover bus and other transportation costs, equipment such as canoes, life vests, water quality monitoring equipment, field guides, educational materials, vessel maintenance and other costs. The award would help children in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.

source: MD DNR

Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) President Will Baker and Maryland Executive Director for CBF Kim Coble issued the following statements following the recent press call  by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

Will Baker said:

” Today, 30 years of failed, voluntary programs to save the Bay may be coming to an end. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  appears ready to enforce the Clean Water Act, consistent with its settlement of our law suit.

EPA’s draft  TMDL is a pollution budget. If fully implemented, it will hold the states accountable to reduce pollution to scientifically defensible levels.

Here’s how EPA proposes to go forward: The states have until the end of November to improve their detailed plans to achieve the reductions articulated in today’s TMDL budget. By the end of the year, EPA will finalize the pollution reduction levels based on science. And then, EPA will hold the states accountable and impose consquences they fail.

The Clean Water Act requires EPA to exercise its authority, especially for multi-state systems like the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Clean Water Act now under consideration will ensure that today’s action and the process it sets in motion can survive the period of time required to, finally, save the Bay. Congress must pass this critical legislation.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation applauds EPA for putting a priority on clean water.”

Kim Coble said:

“CBF applauds Maryland for developing effective new strategies for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, presented in the state’s watershed implementation plan. Maryland got it right on paper. The state’s plan shows we can meet pollution reduction goals and achieve clean water.  However, what is missing from the plan are details of exactly how the state will meet the goals.  These details are critical and will help to ensure the plan is not only words on paper but actions on the ground all working to help restore the rivers and Bay. Fortunately, Maryland has the time and talent to get this done right.”

MASN, the television home of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, has announced a partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to launch a public service campaign to “Go to Bat for the Bay.”  The network will launch a series of television and online ads to increase awareness about the Chesapeake Bay and to encourage responsible use of nature’s resources.

The network will deploy its most valuable resources — an All-Star talent team as well as Nationals and Orioles players and coaches — to promote the year-long campaign on MASN.  Adam Dunn, Jeremy Guthrie and Adam Jones, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman, and MASN broadcaster Johnny Holliday have already recorded PSA’s, and other Nationals, Orioles and MASN personalities will join them in the months ahead.

The network’s television footprint closely mirrors the vast Chesapeake Bay watershed, the 64,000 square miles and 150 rivers and streams that drain into the Chesapeake.  This synergy enables the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to reach a target audience – the 17 million citizens who live within the watershed – who can make a difference in the long-term health of the Bay.

Viewers will be educated about the watershed and encouraged to take small but meaningful steps to “Go to Bat for the Bay.”  These steps can be as simple as buying locally-grown foods, reducing the use of lawn fertilizers and chemicals, planting trees and conserving water.  MASN is contributing a significant amount of on-air and online inventory to promote the campaign, to raise awareness of the fragile environmental treasure, and to encourage positive action.

In one of the PSAs, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman explains that the Chesapeake Bay has lost half of its forested shoreline, more than half its wetlands and 90 percent of its underwater grasses.  Riggleman urges viewers to Go to Bat for the Bay and to join the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

In another spot, Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie describes the blue crabs, oysters, clams and rockfish that make up the 500 million pounds of seafood harvested from the Bay annually.  Guthrie reminds viewers that a cleaner Bay means better seafood and more jobs for those who bring the Bay’s bounty to our tables.

source: CBF

On May 27, 2010, Chesapeake Bay Foundation President Will Baker issued the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s announcement that the federal government is cancelling sales of leases to drill for oil and natural gas off the Virginia coast.

“We applaud President Obama’s decision to cancel sales of oil and gas leasing off Virginia’s coast and thereby avoid a potentially catastrophic threat to the Chesapeake Bay.

“The events in the Gulf clearly demonstrate the risks of offshore drilling. Safeguards are never foolproof. And their effectiveness can be further mitigated by human error. The consequence of accidents can be devastating to the environment, the economy, and the people of waterfront communities.

“The risks posed by offshore drilling to the Chesapeake Bay outweigh any potential benefits. Moreover, clean, safe alternatives such as wind and solar power as well as energy conservation readily exist that will provide the energy and jobs needed without threatening our communities, our economy, the military, and the Bay. I hope the federal government and the Bay states will take this opportunity to aggressively pursue a more sustainable energy future, beginning today.”

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced support for Maryland’s new oyster restoration plan, calling it a strong first step towards significantly increasing oyster numbers in the Chesapeake Bay.

The plan proposes a new approach for managing this critical resource for all of its different values. The plan would create big oyster reefs in certain areas of the Bay that can not be harvested (sanctuary reefs), increase job opportunities in oyster farming in separate areas, and retain some reefs for watermen to harvest wild oysters. Included in the plan is a significant increase in the area of productive oyster beds to be set aside as sanctuaries. An increase in the acreage of sanctuaries will provide more habitat for fish, help water quality, and provide protected populations of oysters.

“Our native oyster is part of the public trust, and we have a clear and urgent responsibility to restore this iconic species to the Chesapeake Bay,” said Governor O’Malley. “Today marks a critical next step in our efforts to rebuild the population for ecological and economic benefits. By some projections, today’s actions could contribute as much as $25 million to Maryland’s economy and create over 200 jobs.”

“The Governor recognizes that we need to give more attention to restoring oysters to save the Bay ecology. That’s a huge shift.  But he also understands the economic needs of Marylanders who work on the water. The plan helps create an aquaculture-based oyster industry in the state, and also allows for some traditional harvesting, said Mark Bryer, director of TNC’s Chesapeake Program

“Governor O’Malley is proposing to do for oysters what he did for blue crabs.  Bravo. This plan will bring more oysters to the Bay.  That will be good for the ecology and good for the economy.  Oyster lovers will benefit and more jobs in the seafood industry will be created.  What a win for everyone,” said Will Baker, president of CBF.

Currently, many productive oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay are planted specifically for fishermen to harvest. That practice not only slowed the restoration of once-thriving oyster numbers in the Bay, but also failed to revive the previously profitable oyster industry. In other regions the industry has become profitable by farming oysters—using cages, bags, and racks for raising hatchery-produced oyster seed. Maryland’s new plan aims to help watermen transition to farming oysters rather than harvesting wild oysters.

In recent years science has concluded that larger, interconnected oyster sanctuaries rather than flat beds are better able to thrive despite disease and other stresses. The new plan would mean concentrating sanctuaries in a few rivers and areas, rather than scattering them, and building sanctuary oyster reefs higher, which may make them better able to persist in the face of degraded water quality.

Setting aside, restoring and protecting productive bars is in the public interest, as unspoiled oyster reefs serve important ecological functions that benefit everyone.  Oysters are pollution vacuum cleaners – a single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day.   And the reefs that oysters form provide essential habitat for commercially and recreationally important fish.

Recently as little as four percent of productive oyster bottom is protected from harvest; the Governor’s proposal sets aside 24 percent of the Bay bottom that currently is, or can be, a productive oyster habitat as an oyster sanctuary area. These sanctuary areas have been identified scientifically to ensure a high degree of success for oyster growth. The U.S. Army Corps has estimated about 36,000 acres of productive bottom exists in the Maryland portion of the Bay.

CBF and TNC believe this proposal to set aside 24 percent of oyster reefs should be considered a minimum step towards successful oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay.

The plan also proposes to substantially reduce illegal harvesting of oysters, which to date has been a significant challenge in restoring the Bay’s oysters.  The Governor’s plan proposes to curb poaching by concentrating sanctuary reefs, making them easier to patrol, and by using improved monitoring technology.

The state proposal closely follows recommendations to improve oyster restoration made last February by the Oyster Advisory Commission. The 21-member Commission of scientists, watermen, anglers, businessmen, economists, environmental advocates, and elected officials was appointed by Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary John Griffin in September 2007

The plan proposes to remove many of the obstacles to oyster farming in Maryland. It lays out strategies for leasing Bay bottom to watermen or other commercial interests, and to expediting permits. In addition to recommendations made by the Oyster Advisory Commission, the plan closely follows aquaculture legislation passed this past spring in the Maryland General Assembly.

CBF is actively involved in oyster restoration, with its state-of-the-art restoration vessel the Patricia Campbell and its Oyster Recovery Center in Southern Anne Arundel County.

TNC is working in partnership with CBF on oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay, and also recently released a report assessing the health of shellfish reefs worldwide.

source: CBF press release