Pollution

While I agree that chemicals and manure are major problems contributing to Chesapeake Bay pollution, there are two additional concerns that should be addressed. One is the pollution associated with power mowers, leaf blowers and edgers. Most or these gasoline engines have little or no pollution controls. The second is the increasing population in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. During my lifetime, the population in Maryland has more than tripled, and homes and highways continue to reduce the efficiency of trees in cleansing the environment.

For years, the ill effects of improperly dumped hazardous wastes was a hot topic in the media. However, it seems as though only big name corporations that get caught disposing colossal amounts of waste get covered today. Candy Thomson's recent report shows that there are still concerns when it comes to toxic dumping locally ("Baltimore man sentenced in hazardous waste case," April 29). The fact that the article reports on an average person and not a large corporation deserves applause.

What untold number of years will we have to wait for developers to take responsibility for their actions ("Md. lawmakers propose delaying, weakening storm-water pollution control," Feb. 18)? Del. Marvin E. Holmes Jr. says he agrees with the "objectives" of a restored Chesapeake Bay. Let's be clear what those objectives are: water Marylanders can enjoy safely, clean water where crabs, oysters, and rockfish can thrive, and a bay that doesn't turn into a partly-dead zombie every summer.

Thanks to Alison Prost for her recent commentary ("Beyond 'rain tax' rhetoric," May 1) explaining the health and economic issues that will be addressed with a stormwater fee and debunking the misrepresentation of the fee. The fee is not about rain. It takes aim at the pollution, trash and debris that are washing into our local rivers, the Baltimore Harbor and Chesapeake Bay. The polluted runoff makes these waterways unfit for use and the fish in them unsafe to eat. Many Baltimore organizations - private, public, community and nonprofit - are working hard to make our waterways fishable and swimmable.

The House approved a bill Friday that would ease state requirements for some developers to keep pollution from washing off their building sites. The vote was 127-13. The measure now heads to the Senate. Developers and local officials have been pressing for some relief from new storm-water pollution regulations scheduled to take effect May 4, arguing that they could cost the state jobs and tax revenues and aggravate suburban sprawl. The bill would exempt some projects already in the works from having to meet the new, tougher requirements for controlling runoff, and it would give breaks to some redevelopment projects.

On a bridge behind a strip mall on Liberty Road just west of Baltimore, a group of state biologists trekked out in the morning drizzle Monday to gauge the health of the Chesapeake Bay. From the bridge over the Gwynns Falls, they lowered a device about 2 feet into the brown-green water to take the temperature and measure the dissolved oxygen. Then they lowered a bottle with a small crane to collect a water sample, checking for sediment, nutrients and solids. The effort, made at 54 sites each month across the state since 1986, shows the short- and long-term health of Maryland's streams, the Inner Harbor and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay. The results not only help guide those who regulate pollution, but help the biologists show how the way people live and work affects the water quality nearby and downstream.

A Baltimore coal terminal operator has agreed to pay a $34,600 penalty and settle pollution violations alleged by the Environmental Protection Agency. Federal regulators contend that CNX Marine Terminals at 3800 Newgate Ave. near the northern entrance to the Harbor Tunnel was piping storm-water runoff illegally from its coal storage yard into a creek that feeds into the Patapsco River. The company also was accused of not adequately safeguarding its underground fuel storage tanks from leaks, and of improperly storing used fluorescent lamps.

The Environmental Protection Agency has levied nearly $250,000 in fines against Baltimore City and Anne Arundel and Harford counties for failing to adequately protect their waterways from pollution washing off streets, parking lots and lawns. The EPA's Mid-Atlantic regional office in Philadelphia proposed fining the three local governments more than a year after inspections found they were violating permits requiring them to control storm-water pollution from government facilities, construction sites and businesses.

A pair of environmental groups and several Dundalk-area residents filed suit Friday against present and former owners of the Sparrows Point steel mill, accusing them of polluting nearby waterways that feed into the Chesapeake Bay and threatening the health of people in neighboring communities. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper and seven people who live near Sparrows Point. They are seeking injunctions to halt what they claim is continuing pollution and require cleanup of all contamination on and from the 2,300-acre peninsula.

A recent article reported a serious problem in the implementation of Maryland's agricultural nutrient management program, which was designed to help protect the Chesapeake and coastal bays from agricultural pollution by requiring farmers to submit manure and fertilizer management plans to the state ("State's oversight of farms criticized," Feb. 3). I was concerned to read that 30 percent or 40 percent of the plans Maryland's Department of Agriculture audits are found to be non-compliant and that only about 10 percent of the farms are checked.

Stormwater is the only source of pollution to local waterways that is growing. There has been much talk lately of stormwater fees as a "rain tax. " While catchy, the moniker really doesn't tell the story. The story begins when those raindrops hit parking lots, roads and other paved surfaces. As they flow downhill, they pick up pollution - oil and grease from automobiles, fertilizer from our yards, and dog waste that wasn't picked up. That pollution flows into storm drains, then into local streams and creeks, then into local rivers.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's recently released 2012 State of the Bay Report tells us the health of the Chesapeake Bay has improved 14 percent since 2008. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, we hear about local governments, businesses and citizens rolling up their sleeves to reduce pollution from all sectors: agriculture, sewage treatment plants, and urban and suburban runoff. They are working to restore local rivers and streams.

In today's ever-growing coagulation of fact, fiction and rumor from print, digital and social media, where is the news consumer to look with confidence for the truth? The flood of instant accounts of the Boston marathon explosions and their alleged conspirators severely complicated the critical task of police and other law-enforcement officials in tracking down those responsible. Meanwhile, the airwaves and television screens were filled with inflammatory chatter resulting in conflicting and often unfounded charges of culpability against a range of ethnic, religious and immigrant groups, inflaming an already incendiary public climate.

Today is Earth Day , a day when environmentalists and concerned citizens around the world demonstrate their caring for the health of their communities, the natural world and the planet. Forty-three years ago, the first Earth Day drew an estimated 20 million Americans into the streets, into parks and onto campuses for teach-ins and protests over environmental degradation.  Organizers today claim the observance has gone global, with more than 1 billion participants. Earth Day helped launch the modern environmental movement, which provided public pressure for passage of many of the environmental laws we have today.  Like the movement, its focus has shifted from fighting obvious air and water pollution to knottier issues around how and where we live, and what we consume, most notably climate change.

I was quite amused by The Sun's efforts to set the record straight concerning the rain tax ("The 'rain tax' sham," April 17). After reading your editorial, one can only conclude that any sensible individual interested in curbing pollution must be for the rain tax and anybody against the tax must favor pollution. Really? The vast majority of your readers, if not all, favor reducing pollution. My hunch, however, is that the majority of readers do not support the rain tax and for good and just concerns.

A Washington-based nonprofit group has offered to test for toxic contamination in city park land that borders a new casino being built in South Baltimore, but City Hall says it's not interested. The Inner Harbor Stewardship Foundation, which bankrolled a lawsuit seeking to block work on the Horseshoe Casino until more cleanup is required on the site, wrote Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Monday saying that it would pay for testing of soil and ground water at Gwynns Falls Trail Park.

State officials say Maryland needs tougher motor vehicle pollution standards than federal law requires in order to eliminate the smog that plagues the Baltimore and Washington areas every summer.The Evening Sun would like to know whether you favor tougher controls.To give your answer, call SUNDIAL at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County). After you hear the greeting, you'll be asked to punch in a four-digit code on your Touch-Tone phone. The code is 4600. The results will be published tomorrow.

— Residents of Kent Island are never far from the water. That's what drew many of them to the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay, where they're close to boating, fishing and all nature's bounty. But for the mostly tidy cottages, bungalows and other homes built decades ago on the southern end of this low-lying island, there's just one problem. Far from the nearest sewer line, they all rely on septic systems to dispose of their waste. Four out of five homes here are pumping water-fouling nitrogen into the bay every time they flush, Queen Anne's County health officials estimate.

Amid complaints over what critics dismiss as a "rain tax," some powerful lawmakers in Annapolis are mounting a last-minute attempt Monday to delay state-mandated storm-water fees that Baltimore city and Maryland's nine largest counties are about to assess their property owners for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. State Sen. Joan Carter Conway , chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, said Sunday she plans to propose...

In response to the recent article, "Bill would give farmers 10-year reprieve on new regs" (March 27) I wish to add more detail on why this bill, Senate Bill 1029, will be detrimental for Marylanders and the Chesapeake Bay. Agriculture is the single largest source of nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. That fact alone means that farms must be closely watched to ensure they are following state and federal regulations. The proposal contradicts this important idea by providing the possibility for farms to have a 10-year exemption from new pollution regulations.