Phosphorus

JERUSALEM -Israel's use of white phosphorus artillery shells led to the deaths of at least 12 Palestinian civilians and destroyed millions of dollars in property during the recent three-week war in the Gaza Strip, Human Rights Watch says in a report released Wednesday. Israeli military officials called the claim "baseless" and said the shells, designed to produce a smoke screen, were used in accordance with accepted rules. A frequent critic of Israeli military practices, New York-based Human Rights Watch says its review of the Gaza fighting found instances in which white phosphorus rounds were used in urban areas under circumstances that had no clear military rationale.

Optimism might seem out of place after the Waterkeeper Alliance's bitter loss in a recent lawsuit to hold Perdue Farms and its grower Alan Hudson responsible for polluting waterways with poultry manure. But it's possible to at least be hopeful of solutions, perhaps within the current decade, to this widespread bay pollution. Reasons for hope were less likely when the lawsuit was filed three years ago. Witness a survey recently presented by University of Maryland ag scientist Kenneth Staver.

Chicken manure just might be one of Mother Nature's best fertilizers.It is also one of the cheapest.As Coulbourne Swift figures it, he can save up to $50 an acre by spreading chicken manure over his farm rather than using chemical fertilizer."

This letter was sent to the head of the Maryland Department of Environment and a similar one was sent to the head of the Department of Natural Resources. A copy was provided for publication. In August, the U.S. Geological Survey published a report titled "Flux of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Suspended Sediment from the Susquehanna River Basin to the Chesapeake Bay during Tropical Storm Lee, September 2011, as an Indicator of the Effects of Reservoir Sedimentation on Water Quality.

Q. A recent test of my garden soil indicated that the phosphorus levels were excessive. Is this a problem and is there anything I can do to lower the levels? A. As part of my job, I review all of the University of Maryland soil tests that originate in Baltimore City. Most of them indicate that the soil phosphorus level is excessive. However, in all but extreme cases this should not cause a problem. The phosphorus is largely bound in the soil, and there is little you can do to lower the levels.

Scientists say they have taken a major step toward improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and throughout the country by feeding chickens a hybrid corn that sharply reduces the amount of phosphorus in their waste.Researchers at the University of Delaware fed chickens the corn, along with an enzyme that helps the birds digest phosphorus more efficiently, and found the birds produced manure with 41 percent less phosphorus and 82 percent less water-soluble phosphorus. The mineral has been related to water pollution and outbreaks of Pfiesteria piscicida.

The state Department of Agriculture announced a pilot project yesterday that will allow Maryland farmers to manage the phosphorus-based nutrients in their crop soil.The four-year project will receive $1.5 million in annual funding from the state and the five poultry companies on the Eastern Shore, and permit farmers with excess poultry litter to transport it to farmers needing more.Poultry litter is chicken manure mixed with wood shavings. It contains more phosphorus than other fertilizers, and overloading cropland with phosphorus could cause long-term land or water-quality problems, said Norm Astle, the project coordinator.

Now it's official: A report released today (8/30) finds the Conowingo Dam is losing its ability to prevent pollution from reaching the Chesapeake Bay. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the reservoirs behind Conowingo and other dams on the lower Susquehanna River are nearly full of sediment and are increasingly failing to trap it as it washes down river.  The 94-foot-high hydroelectric structure at Conowingo is just the last and largest of...

The Maryland Farm Bureau balks at environmentalists' efforts to classify manure as a pollutant. They say that farmers value the manure as a resource and use it in lieu of chemically enhanced fertilizer. The simple fact remains that when too much manure is applied on land, it can become a significant source of phosphorus pollution that's killing local streams, creeks and the bay itself. Up to a certain point, manure can indeed be a helpful resource. But once the soil is saturated, no more manure should be applied.

The Maryland Senate is poised to delay the implementation of a statewide ban on dishwasher detergent containing polluting phosphorus that seeps into the Chesapeake Bay, in response to objections from consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, which said it cannot meet the original deadline. Senators gave preliminary approval yesterday to legislation that would push back the ban's implementation by six months, to July 2010. The change would come one year after the General Assembly passed the ban on nearly all phosphorus in the detergents, which environmentalists say are discharged into the bay through sewers and other avenues, and contribute to algae blooms, fish kills and dead zones.

Now it's official: A report released today (8/30) finds the Conowingo Dam is losing its ability to prevent pollution from reaching the Chesapeake Bay. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the reservoirs behind Conowingo and other dams on the lower Susquehanna River are nearly full of sediment and are increasingly failing to trap it as it washes down river.  The 94-foot-high hydroelectric structure at Conowingo is just the last and largest of...

What is this new weed all over my place? It has a thin stem and little white flowers. The little leaves are in a circle around the plant base. Weirdly, it also has needles on the stems. There are so many of these stems in my lawn and beds, I thought they were grass! What do I do? Weed quickly! Those "needles" are seed pods that will explode open and project their seeds everywhere. Welcome to hairy bittercress, a weed having a banner year. Though flourishing now, this is a winter annual weed and most of its seeds germinated last fall.

I am appalled to learn that Maryland has forced the elimination of phosphorus from liquid injector tree fertilizer. It is the phosphorus that is most important to root development. A mature tree will certainly use all the phosphorus injected into the soil with nothing left to harm the Chesapeake Bay. It is this lack of proper root development that has made falling trees, once rare, now a common occurrence. I should not have to quote tree experts on the importance of feeding trees anymore than I should have to quote nutrition experts on the importance of feeding humans.

Millions of tons of one of theChesapeake Bay'slargest sources of pollution continue to be dumped onto farm lands without proper regulation. Farm animals produce 44 million tons of manure annually in the bay watershed, and most of it is collected and disposed of on farmland - or left where it falls. This ranks the bay region in the top 10 percent in the nation for manure-related nitrogen runoff, and the problem of proper management of this waste is exacerbated by the fact that three highly concentrated animal feeding operation areas contribute more than 90 percent of the manure.

While we've made progress on plans to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland still needs to get serious about reducing pollution from farm runoff ("Scientists criticize tracking of Chesapeake Bay cleanup," May 5). Manure runoff is a major pollutant, and our current system allows too much phosphorus-rich manure to be applied to farmlands. If soil becomes saturated with phosphorus, a bay-killing pollutant, and then still more manure is applied, it becomes easier for the phosphorus to get into nearby waterways, leading to algae blooms that choke the bay of life.

At six weeks of age, the average chicken produces about 5 ounces of waste each day. That may not seem like much, but multiply it by 80,000, which is how many birds may be found in a single commercial chicken house, and it's ankle-deep in short order. For most farmers this has been regarded as a prized asset, not a problem. Poultry litter is periodically spread on fields to fertilize crops and spare farmers the expense of buying expensive commercial fertilizers. It's the proverbial cycle of life.

Despite making progress in restoring Chesapeake Bay, the multistate cleanup effort is falling short of its major goal of reducing the bay's nutrient pollution 40 percent by 2000.Preliminary projections presented yesterday at a bay cleanup meeting show that Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia appear likely to meet their goal of reducing phosphorus, one of two key nutrients fouling the Chesapeake.But unless the cleanup pace quickens dramatically, the projections show that current efforts to reduce the other nutrient, nitrogen, will fall 28 percent short of the goal set a decade ago.Officials have warned for some time that the cleanup campaign may not achieve the 40 percent reduction in nutrient pollution by the deadline, which is just 3 1/2 years away.

At six weeks of age, the average chicken produces about 5 ounces of waste each day. That may not seem like much, but multiply it by 80,000, which is how many birds may be found in a single commercial chicken house, and it's ankle-deep in short order. For most farmers this has been regarded as a prized asset, not a problem. Poultry litter is periodically spread on fields to fertilize crops and spare farmers the expense of buying expensive commercial fertilizers. It's the proverbial cycle of life.

Farmland across the Chesapeake Bay region is overloaded with phosphorus, a new study by an environmental group finds, indicating that the bay's waters are being polluted by excessive use of animal manure and sewage sludge as crop fertilizers. In a report released Tuesday, the Environmental Working Group says soil data on file at universities show that in one of five counties in the six-state watershed, more than half of all soil samples tested are overloaded with phosphorus, a nutrient blamed for fouling the bay's waters.

The Maryland Farm Bureau balks at environmentalists' efforts to classify manure as a pollutant. They say that farmers value the manure as a resource and use it in lieu of chemically enhanced fertilizer. The simple fact remains that when too much manure is applied on land, it can become a significant source of phosphorus pollution that's killing local streams, creeks and the bay itself. Up to a certain point, manure can indeed be a helpful resource. But once the soil is saturated, no more manure should be applied.