Frustration boils over for Chesapeake Bay efforts
October 29th, 2008 by cdunaganChesapeake Bay Foundation and other environmental groups are on the verge of suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency for failing to do its part in cleaning up the expansive bay.
Sunrise over Chesapeake Bay
// Kitsap Sun
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Foundation President Will Baker called the EPA an “absent partner” in restoring the waterway, according to a story by Timothy Wheeler in the Baltimore Sun.
The federal lawsuit, to follow an official notification to the
EPA, will demand that the agency appropriate enough money to do its
part in cleaning up the bay, which includes enforcement of federal
laws.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation offers a video and several links to
information on its Web site.
“People are fed up with the government’s failure to reduce pollution in this national treasure,” Baker was quoted as saying. “We have no other course of action left but to go to court and try to get EPA to comply with its own Clean Water Act.”
While the lawsuit targets the EPA, officials acknowledge that Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia also failed to achieve their cleanup goals as required by the agreement they signed. They are not targeted, however, because environmental leaders believe they have made “good-faith efforts.”
Officials involved in the Puget Sound Partnership often say they are trying to avoid a repeat of the troubled efforts to restore Chesapeake Bay. Measuring progress step-by-step after setting priorities is seen as one difference in the Puget Sound effort.
It’s interesting to think that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is going after the EPA, when the agency is playing only a minor part in the Puget Sound effort. On the other hand, we don’t have more than one state government to fuss with here. Assuming the governor, Legislature and a majority of the people are on board with the Puget Sound Partnership, dealing within one state can be a good thing. (On the other hand, we sometimes forget that we are sharing waters with another country — Canada.)
Two years ago, I spent some time in the Chesapeake Bay region, meeting the people and comparing the issues to those in Puget Sound. My stories may provide some background for you as this issue rises to national attention.
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