Press Statement
Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) President and CEO Hilary Harp Falk praised Sen. Ben Cardin’s unparalleled record of success fighting for a cleaner, healthier Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Maryland’s senior senator today announced his plans to retire next year rather than run for a fourth Senate term.
Sen. Cardin has been a champion for the region’s greatest national resource since he began his public service career in 1967 in the Maryland House of Delegates, the same year CBF was founded. In 1987, he was elected to represent the state’s third congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2006, he was elected to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.
From his work on the original Chesapeake Bay Agreement in the early 1980s to his recent success securing reauthorization and historic increase in funding for the federal Chesapeake Bay Program, Sen. Cardin has never wavered in his commitment to saving the Bay and its tributaries.
Sen. Cardin has worked tirelessly to boost funding to restore oyster populations in the Bay and major Maryland tributaries such as the Tred Avon River. He also has been an enthusiastic supporter of education programs that give students the chance to learn about the Bay through hands-on, outdoor experiences.
In more than 35 years in Congress, Sen. Cardin has helped steer tens of millions in federal funds to Bay research and restoration efforts as well as federal clean water initiatives. He recognizes that saving the Bay requires a multi-state effort and has worked tirelessly to collaborate with other elected officials in the watershed to advocate policies to benefit the entire region.
As a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Cardin has led the fight to increase federal investment in modernizing the nation’s deteriorating wastewater, drinking water, and stormwater treatment infrastructure.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation President and CEO Hilary Harp Falk issued the following statement praising Sen. Cardin’s decades of advocacy for the Bay, its waterways, and clean water for the nation:
“Sen. Cardin has been a fierce advocate for the Bay and the people who love and depend on it for more than fifty-five years. His career has been one important legislative victory for clean water after another.
“Whether advocating for Maryland fisheries, promoting environmental education, or ensuring federal support for Bay research and restoration, Sen. Cardin is a true Chesapeake Bay champion.
“The Chesapeake Bay Foundation salutes his enduring commitment to restoring and protecting this national treasure and economic engine. We will be forever grateful for his leadership and dedication to our beloved Bay.”
Virginia menhaden industry officials last week signed a non-enforceable agreement with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). Under the memorandum of understanding, the menhaden fishery would limit fishing operations on summer weekends and holidays and within one mile of the shore in some of Virginia’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay.
This follows VMRC’s failure to approve proposed regulations on Virginia’s menhaden purse seine fisheries last December, opting instead to propose the agreement that was signed last week.
Omega Protein is the primary harvester of menhaden in the region. Spills sometimes occur when purse seine nets snag, tear, or otherwise malfunction, sending dead fish into the water and sometimes onto nearby shorelines and beaches.
Last year several net spills by Omega Protein resulted in thousands of dead menhaden and about 12,000 pounds of red drum fouling beaches on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Net spills before busy holiday weekends have hurt the tourism economy in Coastal Virginia communities.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Senior Regional Ecosystem Scientist Chris Moore issued the following statement.
“Omega Protein has time and again fought against a commonsense approach to the management of this fishery. Omega Protein violated the Chesapeake Bay harvest cap in 2019, opposed legislation this past General Assembly Session that would have provided much-needed data on the menhaden population, and successfully lobbied against enforceable regulations last fall that would have reduced user conflicts and net spills.
“Omega Protein’s net spills of menhaden are an alarming waste of a precious food source for striped bass, dolphins, osprey, and other wildlife. Science on the menhaden population in the Bay is still lacking, and more data is needed to better manage Virginia’s menhaden fishery.
“We appreciate this step by the Youngkin Administration and VMRC towards addressing the threats caused by Omega Protein’s net spills. CBF will continue to advocate for protecting the enormous ecological value of Virginia’s menhaden population.”
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) today is calling on the Maryland House of Delegates to support a bill to strengthen the state’s forest protections after the Senate unanimously approved the legislation during its voting session Thursday.
CBF has been strongly supporting the legislation—SB526/HB723—that would preserve more forest by increasing replanting requirements for developers that clear trees. It also provides local jurisdictions with more flexibility to achieve no net loss of forested land. Reaching that goal would represent a turning point in Maryland history, given that the state has been losing forested land for decades, mostly to construction. CBF and many others in Maryland’s environmental community have been pursuing ways to strengthen the state’s forest protections for nearly a decade. This year’s legislation is the best opportunity to get it done.
By increasing protections for forested land, lawmakers have the opportunity to improve water quality and mitigate climate change. Trees filter water, decrease stormwater runoff, remove air pollutants, bolster shorelines, reduce urban heat islands, protect against flooding, and benefit human mental and physical health.
CBF’s Maryland Staff Attorney Matt Stegman issued the following statement:
“We’re extending a hearty thanks today to Maryland Senators, in particular Sen. Sarah Elfreth, the bill’s Senate sponsor, as well as the Senate Education, Energy, and Environment Committee for their support of this legislation to protect Maryland’s forests.
“Today’s Senate vote proves this bill has widespread and bipartisan support. The Senate environment committee worked diligently to pass amendments that address concerns about potential impacts to affordable housing and smart growth. The updated bill will ensure cities and towns can grow in a way that protects forests. Trees provide clean water and are among our best defenses against climate change. Protecting the forests we still have should be among the state’s highest priorities.
“We’re now asking House lawmakers to approve this bill before the end of the General Assembly session. Doing so will ensure Maryland’s forest protections align with 21st century needs.”
Today, the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates issued formal resolutions to mark the 50th anniversary of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) environmental education program.
Since 1973, CBF’s award-winning education programs have been providing hands-on outdoor experiences to more than 1.5 million participants in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The classes are designed to get students and educators outside to explore the Bay as well as its rivers, streams, and watershed. In Maryland, CBF’s education program serves about 10,000 students and teachers per year through outdoor experiences, teacher trainings, and class materials.
Currently, CBF runs six education programs in Maryland including two overnight residential programs on Smith Island and at the Karen Noonan Center in Dorchester County. The first CBF education program was launched on Meredith Creek in Annapolis.
CBF’s education program has been instrumental in helping students meet Maryland’s environmental literacy high school graduation requirement. Studies have shown that environmental education improves academic performance, increases civic engagement, and instills a belief that individuals can make a difference.
CBF’s Vice President for Education Tom Ackerman issued the following statement:
“Environmental education helps us to understand how the city streets, suburban lawns, and rural fields where we live affect the rivers and streams that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. When students and teachers paddle a canoe, pull up a fishing line on a traditional Bay work boat, or evaluate the health of a local stream, they can connect their lives with the waterways that surround all of us. Through these experiences, we hope students and educators gain the knowledge and inspiration to protect our valuable natural resources.
“We’re honored to receive the recognition today from the General Assembly and look forward to many more decades of outdoor experiences with Maryland students and educators.”
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is thanking Baltimore leaders including Mayor Brandon Scott for their quick action to modify a company’s wastewater permit to prevent potentially toxic wastewater contaminated by the train crash in East Palestine, Ohio from arriving in Baltimore.
The contaminated wastewater from the crash was scheduled to arrive in Baltimore as early as Thursday to be treated at a private facility operated by Clean Harbors. The treated wastewater was then to be routed to Baltimore’s troubled Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant was damaged by an explosion and fire earlier this month.
Today, Clean Harbors announced that it would not process the wastewater in Baltimore. The announcement came after Mayor Scott said the city would deny the company’s request to discharge the treated wastewater from the crash through the city’s wastewater system.
CBF opposed bringing the toxic wastewater to be treated in Baltimore due to the lack of information about what toxics and pollutants were in the water, how it would be treated, and the ongoing maintenance issues that have compromised the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant.
In response to the news today, CBF’s Maryland Senior Scientist Doug Myers issued the following statement:
“This was a poorly hatched plan from the beginning that failed to account for the ongoing and significant issues at Maryland’s largest wastewater treatment plant. We’re thankful Mayor Scott took the quick and bold action needed to stop this shipment of toxic wastewater from arriving in Baltimore. We urge Maryland and city leaders to re-focus on fixing the ongoing maintenance and staffing problems at the Back River and Patapsco wastewater treatment plants that have been documented for two years now.
“While this decision was the right one, we stand with the residents of East Palestine who deserve to have their community fully restored from the harmful effects of the February train crash. The federal government must continue to hold the company responsible for the crash accountable and use a transparent process to ensure communities tasked with assisting in the cleanup are willing and able to do so.”
Following the announcement that waste water from the East Palestine, OH, train crash will be ultimately disposed of at the Back River Wastewater Treatment plant, Doug Myers, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Maryland Senior Scientist, issued this statement.
“The recent history of failures and violations at the Back River plant gives pause about whether this wastewater can be adequately treated. As of today, we are not sure whether the plant can handle the normal volume of waste it receives daily.
“Nearby communities were already burdened by a litany of excess discharges at the plant. Disposing of this additional wastewater raises serious questions that must be answered to ensure the safety of the surrounding communities as well as the health of Back River and the Bay. Before any waste is delivered to the plant, there must be answers for the community’s concerns and a level of transparency that we haven’t seen at that plant in years.”
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) announced its endorsement of the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act, which was introduced today by House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) introduced companion legislation in the Senate today as well.
Named for the late Richmond-area congressman and environmental justice champion, the legislation would empower, support, and protect low-income communities, communities of color, and tribal or Indigenous communities in the Bay watershed and around the country that are too often disproportionately burdened by multiple environmental and public health threats caused by polluting facilities such as natural gas pipelines, trash incinerators, and industrial plants.
The legacy of racist housing policies compounds the problem by leaving communities in cities like Baltimore, Harrisburg, Richmond, and Washington, D.C., more vulnerable to extreme heat, intense storms, frequent flooding, sea level rise, and other hazards exacerbated by climate change.
McEachin, who died last November, and Grijalva drafted the initial legislation in 2019 after gathering extensive input from environmental justice advocates and communities across the country.
Based on feedback from people who experience environmental injustice firsthand, the bill offers a comprehensive set of community-driven approaches to overhauling an inherently unjust federal system that fails to distribute resources equitably or listen to the voices of communities it marginalizes.
The McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act would protect communities from discrimination based on experiencing unequal impacts, such as elevated health risks, from pollution or other environmental degradation based on residents’ race, color, or national origin. The bill also would permit private citizens and organizations to sue when faced with such discrimination.
The bill would require federal agencies to consider the cumulative effects of permitting major projects like pipelines and dams in vulnerable and underserved communities. It also calls for federal agencies to provide early, meaningful opportunities for affected communities to actively participate in permitting decisions and offer community-led solutions. And it would block permits for projects that cannot demonstrate with reasonable certainty that they would not harm human health.
In addition, the legislation would authorize $75 million annually for environmental justice grant programs, promote more equitable access to parks and recreational opportunities for underserved urban communities, and ensure that environmental justice communities and workers are not left behind in the transition to a clean energy economy.
Carmera Thomas-Wilhite, CBF Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, issued the following statement on the bill:
“All people in the Bay region and around the country have the right to a clean, safe, healthy environment, regardless of who they are or where they live.
“The A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act would equip marginalized communities with a comprehensive set of legal, financial, and policy tools to combat the kind of entrenched environmental injustice that results in nine Superfund toxic waste sites being located within a 15-mile radius of the predominantly Black community of Portsmouth, Va., or deadly heat islands threatening formerly red-lined neighborhoods in Baltimore and Harrisburg.
“I can think of no greater way to honor Rep. McEachin’s legacy of fighting for environmental justice and health equity than for Congress to act on this landmark legislation without further delay.”
Today the Moore-Miller Administration issued a formal request to the Secretary of Commerce requesting the declaration of a federal fisheries disaster due to the impacts of invasive catfish and snakeheads in Chesapeake Bay. This request kicks off a formal review process by the Department of Commerce which could result in an infusion of federal funding to help address the impact of these invasive species on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay fisheries and the associated ecological and economic harms. Similar funding was previously granted in 2009 following the precipitous decline of blue crabs.
Blue and flathead catfish were first introduced in the 1970s and 1980s in Virginia to develop a recreational fishery. Since then, these invasive fish have expanded their range into nearly every Chesapeake Bay tributary. The blue catfish’s ability to tolerate varying salinities, temperatures, and habitat allows them to move easily throughout the Bay. These catfish are voracious predators that feed on native species such as menhaden, striped bass, eel, shad, river herring, and blue crabs. In areas where blue catfish populations are established, catfish make up approximately 75 percent of the total weight of all fish inhabiting the river.
Snakeheads, which are native to Asia, have proliferated in recent years in freshwater areas of Bay tributaries after being discovered in the area in 2004. They are considered a threat to freshwater species such as largemouth fish and perch that share similar habitats.
Following Gov. Moore’s announcement, Allison Colden, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Maryland Senior Fisheries Scientist, issued this statement:
“This is a critical first step in addressing the significant problem of invasive catfish and snakeheads in Chesapeake Bay. Federal support would help implement key programs to target harvest of blue catfish and other invasive species to mitigate their ecological damage, while supporting Maryland watermen who have been most affected by negative impacts on native fish species. This action will hopefully complement regulatory reforms up for debate in the next Farm Bill, which would remove catfish processing requirements that have so far hamstrung efforts to increase catfish harvest.
“We applaud the Moore-Miller administration for their leadership in addressing this critical issue affecting the Bay’s ecosystem, watermen, and working waterfront communities.”
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is urging Baltimore city and Maryland officials to act quickly to review and fix problems related to biosolids processing at the two largest wastewater treatment plants in the state after an explosion and fire Wednesday damaged a building at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Dundalk.
Due to the seriousness of the issue and to stop the spread of misinformation through conspiracy theories about it online, CBF is calling on state officials to provide as much information as possible about the cause of the fire, how it will impact the plant’s overall operations, how public and worker safety will be protected, and how the plant will be fixed.
The fire-damaged building was used to dry out sludge material separated from wastewater to later be used as fertilizer.
Problems related to biosolids, or sludge, processing were first identified in the spring of 2021 after Blue Water Baltimore discovered excessive pollution discharges at the Back River plant and the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plants due to cascading operations and maintenance failures at the plants. Those failures led to sludge clogging up important equipment such as centrifuges and primary settling tanks designed to separate solids from wastewater during the treatment process, according to state-issued reports.
At Back River, the state brought in Maryland Environmental Service (MES) to oversee fixes at the plant in March 2022. MES issued a report in July that directly linked issues with the third-party contractor Synagro’s struggles to process sludge material to the facility’s problems with filtering pollution from wastewater before it’s pumped into Back River. MES recommended sludge issues at the plant be fixed within six months, however it’s not clear if these fixes have been made or if they’re working.
The most recent publicly available inspection report from Back River, released by MDE in January, found “crucial equipment maintenance and repairs are not being performed at Back River [Wastewater Treatment Plant]” and that officials have “failed to provide enough qualified staff to adequately operate and maintain the [plant].”
At the Patapsco plant, the latest inspection report from Nov. 2 also details significant problems related to biosolids treatment and processing. Potentially flammable hydrocarbons present in the Patapsco plant’s sludge have been preventing Synagro from pelletizing, or drying out, the sludge at that plant, according to the report. The report noted that “process equipment issues have been outstanding for months and many for over one year” at the Patapsco plant.
These ongoing maintenance and operations failures at Maryland’s largest wastewater plants are causing excessive amounts of pollutants to reach Chesapeake Bay. The Patapsco plant from Jan. to Nov. 2022 exceeded its annual permitted limit for nitrogen pollution by about 1.4 million pounds—nearly triple its permit limit, according to the Jan. inspection report. Phosphorus discharges from the plant exceeded the plant’s annual permitted limits by about 130,000 pounds—more than triple the limit. Similar statistics were not available in the state’s Back River inspection reports, but last year the Chesapeake Bay Program reported more than 2.5 million pounds of excess nitrogen reached the Chesapeake Bay due to operations failures at the Back River and Patapsco wastewater plants in 2021.
The increases in nitrogen and phosphorus loads from these plants are risking Maryland’s ability to meet its Bay restoration commitments. Maryland’s Bay cleanup plan depends on significant pollution reductions from wastewater plants to meet agreed-upon clean water requirements.
CBF’s Maryland Senior Scientist Doug Myers issued this statement:
“It’s inexcusable that nearly two years after the litany of operations and maintenance problems were discovered at the Back River and Patapsco wastewater treatment plants that many of those problems still exist and have now led to serious questions about public and worker safety at the plants. It’s imperative that immediate progress be made to fix the sludge processing problems at both plants. The city must also hire more workers and properly train them on how to run these complex plants to ensure the two plants are not polluting local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.
“These are two of the most significant pieces of public infrastructure in the state and decisive leadership is sorely needed to bring them back to basic operating standards. Until the plants are operating properly, water quality in Back River, Patapsco River, and the Chesapeake Bay is threatened. The public deserves transparency and action to fix these problems and protect clean water.”
Spill Shines a Light on a Regulatory Loophole in Maryland
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is calling on Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to conduct a rigorous investigation into why a massive above-ground storage tank filled with processed poultry sludge failed earlier this month, causing more than 30,000 gallons of pollutant-laden waste to spill into nearby wetlands.
In response to emailed questions from CBF, an MDE spokesman said the facility’s contractor removed the spilled sludge last week and spread straw mulch over the area. MDE is now investigating the spill of the substance, known as DAF, which refers to the dissolved air flotation process that removes the nutrient-rich solids from industrial wastewater, which are later used as fertilizer on farm fields.
Residents and others raised concerns about the open-air sludge tank when it was first proposed because it would accept substances from poultry processing and rendering plants like the one formerly owned by Valley Proteins in Linkwood that failed to meet state operating requirements for years. The substances are known to smell bad and cause pollution issues if excessively applied on land. They are typically extremely high in nitrogen and phosphorus, the two main pollutants harming the overall health of Chesapeake Bay.
CBF is also encouraging state agencies to review and consider adding regulations around substances removed from point source polluters such as rendering plants and wastewater treatment plants. These substances include poultry slurry and cake-like solids that are separated from wastewater during the treatment process and then, in many cases, later applied as fertilizer on agricultural land.
CBF believes the insufficient regulations around removed substances creates a significant loophole for polluters. Maryland state law does not require point source polluters to be responsible for this waste after it leaves industrial properties that operate under state-issued discharge permits. The removed pollutants are also not known to be adequately tracked by the state, leaving an incomplete picture of what happens to the pollutants after leaving industrial facilities.
In the case of the poultry sludge tank, we know some of these removed substances have been discharged, without authorization, into Maryland wetlands. In other cases, removed substances may be over-applied to farm fields resulting in excessive amounts of nitrogen- and phosphorus-laden runoff reaching the Bay and its tributaries. Nutrient management plan regulations administered by the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) are intended to ensure the proper and safe use of any nutrient source on farmland, but neither MDA nor MDE make clear that such plans for farms where these substances are applied result in this outcome. With the lax oversight, localities have been left on their own, with Dorchester County scrambling to prohibit tanks when one was proposed, and Wicomico County limiting new tanks after the one failing now was built.
In response, CBF’s Eastern Shore Director Alan Girard issued the following statement:
“The sludge tank failure in Hebron is a glaring example of Maryland’s mismanagement of pollution from industrial and agricultural facilities. The state is failing to track and mitigate nutrient pollution-laden substances that are removed from facilitates that operate with a state-issued discharge permit—a major loophole in Maryland’s water quality protections.
“In this case, poultry rendering facilities are filtering out nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater, creating a pollution-concentrated sludge, and then sending it to be stored in a massive tank to later be applied to farms as a fertilizer. Despite these nutrient pollutants making their way back into the environment, the pollutants are not known to be adequately tracked by the state and are no longer the responsibility of the facility where they were generated. In the state’s view, these pollutants have been mitigated through land application requirements. Meanwhile insufficient accounting and responsibility for these applications continue to compromise Maryland’s efforts to reduce water pollution from agriculture, the state’s largest source of Chesapeake Bay pollution.
“The situation becomes even worse for the environment and local communities when one of these waste storage facilities fails, and the concentrated pollution spills into one location. It’s time for the state to seriously examine and address the issue of removed substances.”
