Chesapeake EPA Lawsuit

[Two Peas]

So, how bad is this water?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090105/ap_on_re_us/chesapeake_bay_pollution

Has it improved at all in the past decade or two? I can tell you that Lake Erie (to me) is DRAMATICALLY cleaner than it was 20 years ago (although it may have alot to do with the zebra mussel infestation in the Great Lakes).

I'd be interested to hear all your experiences...

 

[Bodkin Creek George]

Since retireing from the Elevator Business I have gotten a commercial crab lisence. I am on the water all the time. I grew up on the water south of Annapolis Md. and now live above the Bay Bridge on the western shore across from Rock Hall. I can honestly tell you that the quality of the bay has gone down hill since Tropicl Storm Agnes hit us in the early 70's. The Federal Government has done little or nothing to solve this except spend money on surveys and then take little or in many cases NO ACTION.
The Chesapeake Bay is one of our National Treasures and the Congress and ALL Presidents shoud be ashamed of themselves for their inaction and indifference to the health of this Treasure.

 

[Vince_nj1]

Found this on Chesapeake Bay magazine.

http://www.eco-check.org/summerreview/chesapeake/

 

[Two Peas]

Thanks for the replies George and Vince. It is somewhat surprising to me that there isn't a bigger voice amongst boaters demanding cleaner water. While Eastern Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara River look much cleaner than they used to, there are plenty of problems. Locally, a Dunlop Rubber factory in North Buffalo routinely turns on their smoke stacks only at night. Most summer nights out on the water you can cut the air with a knife from these plumes - I can only imagine how it impacts the water. Being downstream from Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky, and Detroit can't help us much either, of course...

 

[skibum]

Andrew,

Personally, I would love to march down to Washington and demand that they clean up the Bay. The problem is that they would most likely put in higher boat registration fees, more fuel taxes, and deck runoff fees to do it. None of these are the problem. The problems are mostly from the use of fertilizers and from improper storm drain design. Just about every storm drain in and around Baltimore runs off into either BIH or the Bay. Tons of garbage, dirt, chemicals, etc. get washed right on in. Fix that, and we'de probably be better off.

The water isn't quite as nasty as you would think based on reading that article, but we have altered the oxygen levels sufficiently to give the water that lovely green color and give some of the local aquatic species a hard time...

Michael

 

[msd58]

So, how bad is this water?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090105/ap_on_re_us/chesapeake_bay_pollution

Has it improved at all in the past decade or two? I can tell you that Lake Erie (to me) is DRAMATICALLY cleaner than it was 20 years ago (although it may have alot to do with the zebra mussel infestation in the Great Lakes).

I'd be interested to hear all your experiences...

Its going downhill for sure. However I did read in the Wilmington News Journal that zebra mussles are in the Dealware Bay. Pretty soon they'll be in the Chesapeake.

 

[fc3]

If I remember of what I read about the lawsuit, they want the EPA to control "pollutants' found in run-off. That includes things like fertilizer from your lawn, and especially golf courses, storm drains, farm fields and from livestock. The reason nothing's been done is... how do you do that? Slap a $10 per bag tax on Fertilizer sold in MD?

 

[Jack F]

This is how Boston Harbor was cleaned up.

http://www.savetheharbor.org/wlc/start.html

http://www.heartland.org/publications/environment%20climate/article.html?articleid=9577


Before I moved to the Cape I lived just outside of Boston and was an MWRA customer, we paid around 1k + - a year for water and sewage.

I had a problem with the way they did the billing, you would get a bill based on the amount of water you used and they calculated that the same amount went into the sewage, so if you had a pool, sprinkler system for the yard your bill could get pretty high.

The town I lived in wouldn't allow you to put in a well if your neighborhood was serviced by the MWRA.

 

[quality time]

So, how bad is this water?


I'd be interested to hear all your experiences...

I've been swimming in this water for the past 30 years and have swallowed my fair share over that time. Other than some random twitches and convulsions I seem to be just fine...