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All sides weigh in on C. ariakensis introduction to Bay
It's not a matter of which oyster, but if any oyster could thrive in the Bay
Dream come true or nightmare?
Maryland considers expanding use of power dredging for oysters
Maryland officials are considering expanding areas in the Chesapeake where financially strapped watermen can use power dredges to scoop up oysters.
The proposal comes at a time when the oyster population in the Bay is at a near-record low, and it is being criticized by environmentalists and some marine biologists. They argue that harvesting more oysters when the population is so low will hurt chances of restoring oyster levels in the Bay.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources scheduled public hearings for August and early September on a plan to increase from about 30 percent to about 40 percent the portion of the Bay where power boats may drag metal scoops over oyster bars. Included would be areas off Anne Arundel County, Solomons, Kent Island and Poplar Island.
“We are responding to requests from elected officials in southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore,” Michael Slattery, an assistant natural resources secretary, told The (Baltimore) Sun. “If there is significant public opposition to the expansion, that needs to be weighed very heavily.”
The oyster population has plummeted the last 40 years, with the annual harvest falling from 2.5 million bushels in 1976 to 46,000 bushels last year.
Power dredging was banned for a century beginning in 1867 because power boats could cover so much bottom and catch so many oysters. Watermen could use hand tongs or drag dredges behind sailboats.
Power dredging was reintroduced in increments beginning in the early 1980s, and significantly increased in January 2003.
“It’s almost unprecedented that in the face of declining abundance of oysters, you increase the efficiency with which you can catch the remaining ones,” said Roger Newell, a professor of marine biology at the University of Maryland. “The best chance to build up these populations is to stop fishing them out.”
But supporters of dredging said it is needed to help watermen earn a living and does not endanger the dwindling supply of oysters in the Bay.
“It’s a good thing environmentally to harvest the oyster,” Sen. Richard Colburn, R-Dorchester, said. “The fact is that if you don’t harvest them, there are great odds they will die from disease in three to five years.”
Court backs groups’ right to challenge wetland permits
In a ruling that will impact all environmental groups challenging Virginia water pollution permits in court, the Court of Appeals of Virginia has held that groups can legally oppose the permits on behalf of their members.
The decision supports past arguments by the groups that federal law and the U.S. Constitution protect the right of such organizations to act on behalf of their members when they believe Virginia agencies fail to follow environmental laws.
The July appeals court decision reversed a Richmond Circuit Court’s ruling against the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Citizens for Stumpy Lake, a Hampton Roads conservation group, in a case regarding wetlands destruction in the city of Chesapeake.
The decision sends the case back to the Richmond court to reconsider the two groups’ right to challenge a wetlands permit issued by the Virginia State Water Control Board to a Hampton Roads developer in 2003, which allowed the destruction of 145 acres of wetlands.
The two groups opposed the permit, the first one issued under Virginia’s nontidal wetland protection law, and in a 2003 lawsuit argued that the permit violated the state’s nontidal wetland protection requirements and set a bad precedent for future wetland permitting cases.
The Richmond Circuit Court dismissed the case last September, ruling that neither group had the legal right to challenge the permit on behalf of their members. But the appeals court disagreed.
“We are very pleased the Court of Appeals agrees that CBF, Citizens of Stumpy Lake and other environmental advocacy groups can indeed represent their members in challenging state water pollution actions,” said Robert Wise, an attorney handling the case. “We look forward now to arguing the real issues of the case—that the State Water Control Board violated Virginia’s nontidal wetlands law by allowing the unnecessary destruction of a staggering 145 acres of invaluable, protected wetlands.”
PA issues first wastewater permit with enforceable nitrogen limits
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in August issued its first draft permit with enforceable nitrogen limits at a wastewater treatment plant, a move aimed at meeting the state’s nutrient reduction goals to help clean the Bay.
The permit limits the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that may be discharged from Lancaster City’s wastewater treatment plant into the Conestoga River. City officials, anticipating the requirement, had successfully sought $1 million in federal and state grants and loans to install nutrient reduction technology at the plant before it was required to do so.
The DEP earlier in the month issued a letter to all 190 significant wastewater treatment plants in the watershed specifying the monitoring requirements for nitrogen and phosphorus in their discharges. The monitoring requirements are the first step in determining what actions each discharger may need to take to achieve further nutrient reductions.
Great Lakes cleanup strategy estimated to cost $20 billion
The Great Lakes have joined the growing number of waterbodies with multibillion dollar cleanup price tags, with a new 5-year cleanup strategy estimated to cost $20 billion.
A new collaboration of federal, state, city, tribal and nongovernmental partners issued a draft overarching strategy to restore and protect the Great Lakes ecosystem in July.
Although the strategy did not contain a price tag, environmental groups put the cost at $20 billion.
The strategy was the result of more than six months of work by more than 1,500 people to weave together a comprehensive document covering everything from invasive species and habitat management to controlling pollution and managing coastal areas.
After a two-month public comment period, which will help set priorities, a final strategy will be written for release Dec. 12.
“This collaborative strategy, bringing together resources and ideas from our partners, is the next step in ensuring the Great Lakes remain an international treasure forever open to trade and tourism, and providing a health ecosystem for its surrounding communities,” said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.
Oceans growing more acidic; changes threaten reefs, shellfish
Whether or not it contributes to global warming, carbon dioxide is turning the world’s oceans acidic, Britain’s leading scientific organization warned in July.
The Royal Society said the growing acidity would likely harm coral reefs and other marine life by the end of the century.
“I think there are very serious issues to be addressed,” Dr. John Raven of the University of Dundee in Scotland, who chaired the panel of scientists that wrote the society’s report, told The New York Times. “It will affect all organisms that have skeletons, shells, hard bits that are made of calcium carbonate.”
Unlike global warming forecasts based on computer models, the chemistry of carbon dioxide and seawater is straightforward.
When carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is absorbed by the oceans, the gas undergoes chemical reactions that produce carbonic acid, which is corrosive to shells.
Ocean water today has a pH of 8.1, which is somewhat alkaline. That is about 0.1 less than at the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Depending on the rate of fossil fuel burning, it is projected to drop to 7.7 to 7.9 by 2100, lower than any time in the last 420,000 years, according to the Royal Society.
The change is predicted to slow the growth of coral reefs, shellfish, sea urchins and other creatures that must form and maintain their hard calcium carbonate skeletons and shells. It could also reduce populations of plankton with calcium carbonate shells, disrupting the food chain and harming some fisheries, scientists said.
Panel adopts guidelines for golf courses along Bay
The Maryland Critical Area Commission has adopted guidelines for building environmentally sensitive golf courses along the Chesapeake Bay.
The design standards unanimously adopted by the Critical Area Commission call for keeping fairways, tees and greens at least 300 feet back from tidal waters and wetlands. They also call for maintaining 150-foot buffers on either side of any streams flowing through the course.
To help protect nearby waters from pollution, the standards also require collecting storm water from tees and greens and treating it to remove fertilizers and pesticides.
The 29-member panel, which regulates development within a 1,000-foot strip of Bay shoreline known as the “critical area,” has approved four waterfront golf courses in the past 15 years.
But the commission opted to spell out a policy this year after learning of another course proposed along the Little Blackwater River as part of a disputed resort development in Cambridge.
“This whole process was to provide specificity,” said Martin G. Madden, the panel’s chairman, “so that future projects that come before the commission will have an objective set of standards we can look at.”
