Alison Prost, Maryland Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), issued this statement following Governor Hogan’s withdrawal Wednesday of the Phosphorus Management Tool and nitrate oxide reduction regulations:
”This is a sad day in the long fight to make Maryland waters clean enough for swimming and fishing. Governor Hogan has hurt the river and streams on Maryland’s Eastern Shore where 228,000 tons of excess manure will continue to be applied to farm fields each year, and to wash off into nearby creeks and river. The new governor rolled back 10 years of progress when he withdrew the Phosphorus Management Tool, a common sense, science-based solution to the manure crisis.
“Agriculture is the largest source of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay, and is also the cheapest to reduce by far. Many farmers deserve credit for their efforts to stem pollution from their barnyards and fields. But just as those who live in our cities and suburbs are doing more to clean the Bay, so must farmers.
“Businesses with technologies to help reduce phosphorus pollution from poultry manure are ready to come to Maryland and help ease the burden of excess manure. But these technologies will only have a significant impact if farmers are required to not apply excessive amounts of phosphorus to their crops. Regulations create demand for problem-solving technologies that otherwise would languish.
“Additionally, by withdrawing regulations that would have reduced pollution from coal-fired power plants, Governor Hogan also has put corporate interests above the people of Greater Baltimore. Nitrous oxides are linked to ozone which can be harmful to children and sensitive adults. As a greenhouse gas, nitrous oxides are 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Also, nitrogen from coal plants and vehicles adds millions of pounds of harmful pollution to the Bay each year. The power industry used the same hardship argument in 2006 when the legislature approved the Maryland Healthy Air Act. In the years afterwards, electricity prices dropped, and the industry prospered.
“The Chesapeake Bay Foundation welcomes the opportunity to work with the Administration to ensure farmers have the resources they need to implement the PMT, and all residents see cleaner water. But we can’t compromise on science, or accept further delays on cleaning up Maryland’s rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay.”
Janice Dickson says
Just the beginning of the Republican’s dismantling of environmental progress in Maryland.
Shame on you!
Patrick Byrne says
Can you point me to a definitive study of each river/creek feeding the C. Bay that would identify the Phosphorus levels from each? Also any study on waste water treatment runoff into the Bay?
Thanks in advance,
Pete Buxtun says
I’m not going to google every study out there. Suffice to say, there are many. For positive change to be made you do not need to understand every single tributary. Look at these land use maps and note the acreage in ag versus other land uses. What the new Governor has done has in effect set back environmental stewardship of a public resource decades.
Upper Chester:
https://www.mde.state.md.us/programs/Water/TMDL/Documents/BSID_Reports/Upper_Chester_River_BSID_Report_012512_final.pdf
Middle Chester:
https://www.mde.state.md.us/programs/Water/TMDL/Documents/BSID_Reports/Middle_Chester_River_BSID_Report_09172013_final.pdf