Bay foundation gets $1.25 million for effort to force government regulation of polluters

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has received a $1.25 million grant to bolster its environmental protection efforts by suing government agencies that regulate polluting industries, the organization said yesterday.

The money from the Philadelphia-based Lenfest Foundation will finance the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Litigation Project, which will pay attorneys to try to force the government to enforce laws meant to curb water pollution, officials said.

Although the bay foundation would not specify what lawsuits it might pursue, officials mentioned a December 2003 petition they filed with the Environmental Protection Agency demanding that it take more aggressive action to enforce the Clean Water Act.

"Should the EPA fail to take this action and reduce pollution, litigation may well be the only tool left to us," said foundation President William C. Baker.