A new initiative to rid the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries of dangerous chemical contaminants is up against two big obstacles: lack of knowledge and a shortage of money.
The "Toxics 2000 strategy," to be unveiled today and endorsed by the governments of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia, pledges "a Chesapeake Bay free of toxics" by 2010.
One major goal is to ensure that all bay fish and shellfish are safe to eat. Another is to protect all bay creatures, including humans, from the harmful effects of pesticides, heavy metals and other contaminants.
Experts think there are only a few places where toxic substances have reached dangerous levels. But because it costs so much to test for chemicals in water, mud and fish - as much as $3,000 per sample - testing has not been undertaken on a baywide scale.
In roughly half of the bay's tributary rivers, including virtually all Eastern Shore waterways, "there just hasn't been enough monitoring to know" what the hazardous chemical risks are, said Kelly Eisenman, toxics coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program.
The same is true for the bay's open waters, Eisenman said. Early results of a study now being conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggest there may be toxic hot spots in the upper bay, she said.
The lack of knowledge "is pretty shocking for one of the most studied water bodies on earth," said Bill Matuszeski, director of the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Scientists have identified three spots - Baltimore harbor, the Anacostia River in Washington and Virginia's Elizabeth River - where sediments are contaminated with toxic chemicals at high enough concentrations to harm aquatic life.
The harbor is one of 21 places in the bay watershed where officials say some fish are so contaminated that children and women of childbearing age shouldn't eat them. The harbor's main contaminant is chlordane, a banned termite-killing chemical, said toxicologist Paul Jiapizian of the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Elsewhere in the region, scientists have found PCBs, a banned class of fire-retardant chemicals known to cause cancer; potentially dangerous metals such as mercury; and cancer-causing byproducts from the burning of coal and gasoline.
Because testing for contaminants is so expensive, the initiative will focus on prevention rather than on studies, said Robert Summers, a toxics expert with MDE. During the next 10 years, the states and the district have pledged to:
