Chesapeake Bay cleanup gets boost as six states and D.C. agree to set limits on nutrients from treatment plants 01/03/2005

The Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Calcium are 3 ingredients of the Fertilizer's. With the increase of popullations & thus the needs to increase the farm produce, more farmer's have increase the use of the man make chemical base fertilizers.

Certainly these residual would goes to the ground which contaminated our ground water. If the contaminations is not in check, all our drinking water quality would be in trouble. So do our health.

Hence , for our great health for our childrens' future, we must act now than later for our great heakth.

Chesapeake Bay cleanup gets boost

PHILADELPHIA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached agreement with six states and the District of Columbia on a permitting approach that will set permit limits on nutrients being discharged from more than 350 municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities throughout the 64,000-square-mile Chesapeake Bay watershed.

These permit limits would result in the reduction of about 17.5 million pounds of nitrogen and about one million pounds of phosphorus entering the Chesapeake Bay each year, which will directly help improve water quality.
“This is a pivotal step in the cleanup and protection of the Chesapeake Bay. EPA and the states have committed to making the Bay a healthy environment where plants, fish and other aquatic life can thrive and coexist with development,” said Donald S. Welsh, regional administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region.

The discharge of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) from wastewater treatment is one of the most serious problems affecting the Chesapeake Bay. Excessive nutrients in the Bay cause algae blooms in the water, which leads to oxygen depletion and other adverse impacts on water quality. Excessive algae growth can also block sunlight that is critical to support plant and aquatic life.

States and EPA issue permits to all wastewater treatment facilities which regulate the amount of pollutants that can been discharged into waterways after treatment. The permitting approach announced today describes a consistent basin-wide approach to issue permits that include measurable and enforceable limits for nitrogen and phosphorus.

For years, permits have required nutrient removal to achieve localized water quality standards. However, the lack of science-based and achievable water quality standards for the Chesapeake Bay has made it difficult for the states and EPA to regulate nutrient reductions needed to protect the Bay.

EPA has been working with states for several years to develop a basin-wide strategy for these nutrient permit limits. This new strategy covers the entire 64,000-square-mile watershed, and describes how states and EPA plan to develop permit limits based on the living resource needs of the Bay. States participating in the strategy include Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Read More....
Newswire Article: Chesapeake Bay cleanup gets boost as six states and D.C. agree to set limits on nutrients from treatment plants 01/03/2005