Twenty years after restoration efforts began, the waters of Chesapeake Bay are still rated as "very poor" in quality with only 21% of established goals met. Given the dense urban population and intense agriculture around the shores of the Bay [map], it is carrying a heavy load of pollutants ranging from contaminated storm sewer runoff to agricultural pesticides and fertilizer nutrients. The water quality also reflects eight years of lax enforcement during the Regime's hold on power. However some progress in cleaning up this body of water can now be reported. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District based in Virginia Beach entered into a settlement with the EPA agreeing to pay a $900,000 fine and take remedial action for overflows into the Bay and its tributaries from its sewage collection and treatment facilities. In a joint complaint the State of Virginia and the United States alleged the District illegally discharged nine million gallons of untreated sewage into the Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The discharges occurred on at least 249 occasions since 2003. The District was also alleged to have caused or contributed to 118 overflows of municipal sewage when its system exceeded capacity, and the wastes backed up and flowed out of manholes and other locations in the serviced municipalities. The settlement requires the District to replace and upgrade infrastructure where inspections show a material risk of failure.The EPA also announced that it will begin working on a clean water plan for the entire Chesapeake drainage covering 64,000 sq. miles. The plan was called for in ten year old consent decrees that required establishing total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for impaired waters. EPA estimates that the plan will establish 92 TMDLs for impaired Bay and tributary segments as well as setting an aggregate standard for loading of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment to achieve the desired Bay water quality. EPA is working with the affected states, and the Chesapeake Bay Commission in an attempt to reach consensus on the TMDL targets. Let it not take another twenty years.
[image: Woods Hole Institute]