Panel Says Chesapeake Bay in Peril

Time is running out for the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay unless dramatic action is undertaken soon, according to a panel of leading business, economic and environmental leaders in the region.

The independent Chesapeake Bay Watershed Blue Ribbon Finance Panel cites a variety of studies that point to the continuing massive flow of nutrients and sediment into its waters and dramatic declines in oysters and underwater grasses. The panel concluded that “the Chesapeake Bay is at a turning point.”  The panel calls on Bay states and the federal government to make a six-year, $15 billion investment in the creation of a regional financing authority charged with prioritizing and distributing restoration funds throughout the Bay's watershed. http://www.chesapeakebay.net/blueribbon.htm.