help clean up Chesapeake

K

kd3pc

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Guys and Gals,

It is time to step up and contact your congressman, dock mates and crew so that everyone is on board with pushing our legislators to pass this important Clean Water bill. We need to get all people who enjoy the Bay for fishing, sailing, water sports and the like to get their elected and local officials on board and understanding what it will mean to finally get the Bay in shape. There have been promises since the 70's and it appears that the stars are in line to do something this spring!!

I know the state of VA has worked to preserve menhaden fishing, control surface run-off and streams and river pollution, and they are working with local governments, farmers and agriculture to get this passed. We ALL need to do our part, and we as sailors know it is important, but if you have friends or family in farming, marinas, and other local business - please pass along this message that they too, contact their representatives and urge them to work with us.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has good information for you to research and become more informed about all the details

Thanks and please pass this along...
 
what will you do about the regular “accidental” municipal sewage discharges that commonly dump more effluent than unintentional individual dumps????
 
Do you have a link to this Bill? I'd like to read it before supporting it. I want to make sure it doesn't have any anti-powerboating measures thrown in there. These incliude things like higher fuel taxes, limits on where you can go boating, further restrictions on the types of bottom paints, etc. Just be careful what you wish for until you know exactly what's in there.
 
THe sewage dumping can be a real problem. A large rain storm in DC can deposit as much as 5,000,000 gallons of untreated sewage into the Potomac since DC has a combined sanitary and storm sewer system which overflows directly into the river in storms.
Another major source of the nitrogen polution is the chicken farms on the MD eastern shore. as they are allowed to spread the manure on fields. Purdue is a major political contributor to the "right" politicians.
 
Bruce

The state of VA has ponied up almost a billion dollars to redo the storm sewers so that they do not flood the sanitary sewers, which often cause the overflows you mention. VA is also working to increase the design size and current overflow specs for new and rebuilt sewage treatment plants to also help.

Glenn, the real name of the bill is "The Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009 (HR 3852/S 1816)" and is available at

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3852/show

as well as other sites like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation or the sponsors (Cummings and Cardin in Maryland) website. Senator Warner (VA) and Rep Wittman (VA) are behind it but hoping to build more support in the agriculture and local governments before signing on.

Thanks
dave
 
I'm with lanbuilder,
Seems as though at least once but usually twice in the spring, the Potomac gets the discharge from DC, down the river...

Also, it's been known, that some contractors who are paid to haul this waste away from DC., dump it on farm fields in Westmoreland County, VA., in the middle of the night.
Will they get caught-doubt it...

As far as Menhaden control, well I know thousands of fisherman who would disagree to the extent of actual reform. Omega Protein in Reedsville, VA has deep pockets.
 
I understand the issues, and that is why it is important to get ALL the polluters on the same page, with the same plain language - but this will actually put science based goals in place and penalties for dumping.

VA has so far been able to keep Omega happy, as the provision to ban Menhaden fishing from the original bill has been removed...and Omega is reasonably (as well as expected) happy with the bill so far. I think they realize that they too will have to adapt and negotiate or an overall ban COULD happen. The fisherman, the agriculture (chicken farms, chemical run-off) and all stakeholders in the bay's health need to step up and be realistic.

Sadly you are right, there are many that will dump raw sewage, toxic waste, etc to NorthUmberland, Westmoreland or other rural part of the state where it can be shied away. Congressman Wittman still lives in Montross (westmoreland county) and is well aware. We do need for him to sign on as a sponsor, and when I met with him earlier this month, he said he would.

Give him a call and urge him to do so now.

dave
 
Before attacking the chicken farms on the eastern shore you need to think a little deeper. While there needs to be better control of the nitrogen from those farms that makes its way into the watershed you also need to understand the overall economic impact of the Perdue and Tyson operations to the region. Ever wonder why there are so many acres of corn grown on the eastern shore? That's not corn for human consumption; its grown for and purchased by the chicken farms. Close the chicken farms or force them to move and you'll have tens of thousands of acres of farm land go fallow and farmers going bankrupt. We need to find ways to preserve the lifestyle and businesses on the eastern shore while cleaning up the effects of that lifestyle, businesses and farming on our precious bay.
 
MikeeH and the group,

no way was I picking on tyson or perdue, but they do NEED to do a better job of run off and containment, as a teen I saw firsthand some of the poor practices that - more often than not were laziness and ignorance but in several instances I was involved with...perdue just blamed the farmer even though that farmer had sold 100% to perdue (as you know they often do), The other agriculture and business interests of the bay need to step up ...and this bill goes a long way to help them in doing so. At least we are trying to get every stakeholder to the table so that the others know what is involved and that the localities have what they need to do the job we expect them to do.

thanks
 
I think we can all agree that there are few innocent parties when it comes to polluting the Chesapeake Bay. Everyone from the sewage system managers in the nation's capital, to the poultry industry, farmers as far away as central PA and even those of us homeowners who fertilize to keep our grass green and don't maintain our own septic systems contribute to the problem and have a stake it finding solutions to the it. There is no one silver bullet or guilty party. We're all in this.
 
The link to the Bill didn't really show the Bill itself. It showed other links to blogs, etc., as well as a list of poltical supporters and those opposed, etc. Do you have a direct link to the actual language of the Bill itself?

Thanks.
 
Glen

in the top right hand of the front page, not the header...there is a small icon that says "official bill text"
try that
 
While we certainly need clean water regulation and enforcement, it seems to me the most direct way for individuals to make the Bay cleaner is to get out there and help in your local community.
Every major river on the Chesapeake has an organized "Riverkeeper' program. Go see what you can do to help!

Each April I help the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway (LSHG) with their shoreline cleanup called 'RiverSweep'. It's hard work but very satisfying. Last years event hauled in something like 19 tons of debris- in ONE DAY.

RiverSweep003.jpg
 
Speaking of the Susquehanna, is Pennsylvania part of this initiative? Heck of a lot of stuff coming down that pipe every year.
 
Yes, PA is part of the initiative. They are named in the Bill.
 
<<...."in the top right hand of the front page, not the header...there is a small icon that says "official bill text"
try that"...>>

Thanks!
 
quote:
Originally posted by MikeeH

Before attacking the chicken farms on the eastern shore you need to think a little deeper. While there needs to be better control of the nitrogen from those farms that makes its way into the watershed you also need to understand the overall economic impact of the Perdue and Tyson operations to the region. Ever wonder why there are so many acres of corn grown on the eastern shore? That's not corn for human consumption; its grown for and purchased by the chicken farms. Close the chicken farms or force them to move and you'll have tens of thousands of acres of farm land go fallow and farmers going bankrupt. We need to find ways to preserve the lifestyle and businesses on the eastern shore while cleaning up the effects of that lifestyle, businesses and farming on our precious bay.

Click to expand...


This is wrong-headed thinking. Farmers can, and will, grow other crops. To say that the pollution should be allowed to continue because of corporate farming is ludicrous. It's time to put a stop to it and move to forms of farming that don't require DESTROYING the Bay.
 
No worries to the farmers. The FEDs will pay them to grow nothing. The PIK program is still alive and kicking....
 
"To say that the pollution should be allowed to continue because of corporate farming is ludicrous."

Apparently you failed to read my entire post. Emotion will cause one to miss parts of what may appear on the surface to be a message with an opposing view. So, please, read it again and pay special attention to the last sentence of my post. I am a firm believer in being in the law of "unexpected consequences" which is why I suggest a wider view of issues and recommended solutions.
 
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