Report Cites Chesapeake Bay as Source of Ocean Pollution

Coastal water condition ratings in the Northeast fell from fair to poor in the last three years, according to an EPA report, and the Chesapeake Bay is part of the problem.

The draft National Coastal Condition Report released earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Agency said that coastal waters in the nation as a whole remained the same or improved during the period. Only Northeast and Puerto Rico coastal water conditions declined. The goal of the report was to pinpoint specific regional problems and give states a better idea of the kinds of changes necessary to improve water quality. The latest report draws on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others, to rate coastal regions on five different factors: coastal habitat, water quality, sediment quality, bottom-dwelling organisms and fish tissue. The Northeast region, the most densely populated coastal region in the nation, was rated poor in every category. That was a change from a similar survey in 2001, when the region was given borderline fair to poor ratings. The latest EPA report said that 27 percent of estuarine areas in the Northeast are impaired for aquatic life, 31 percent are impaired for humans and 49 percent are threatened for aquatic life. EPA officials claim the Northeast has little hope of improving its standing unless bay states change environmental policies and reduce pollution and sediment loadings to the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation blames the poor bay water quality on the EPA's failure to enforce the Clean Water Act. To view the EPA report, visit http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr2/.

The Capital, Annapolis, Md., March 30, 2004