web1_RUBIN-Trudy-Color-.jpg

Their view: Real global security threats don’t include a border crisis

web1_icefishing.jpeg

Outdoors: Ice fishermen still waiting for safe ice

Decades ago, the phrase &#8220;The solution to pollution is dilution,&#8221; was the mantra of environmentalists and even biologists when it came to determining acceptable limits of contaminants in water.Today, new research has made the phrase invalid, and the Chesapeake Bay offers a good reason why.According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation&#8217;s biennial State of the Bay report, the condition of the delicate ecosystem decreased last year. The foundation graded the health of the bay as a D+, representing an increase in pollution along with poor water clarity.The bay&#8217;s poor health has indirectly become Luzerne County&#8217;s biggest story of the new year as property owners express outrage and confusion over a new stormwater fee imposed by the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority (WVSA) designed to improve the Chesapeake&#8217;s health.Rainfall a factorRecord rainfall that occurred throughout 2018 has been the cause of the bay&#8217;s recent downturn.As consistent rain events swelled the Susquehanna River and surrounding watersheds that eventually empty into the Chesapeake Bay, the high volume of water did little to dilute the amount of contaminants.According to the State of the Bay report, the increased amount of water flowing into the bay actually carried more pollution and contaminants.&#8220;We saw it across Pennsylvania last year, especially that week of rain at the end of July which was significant,&#8221; said B.J. Small, PA Media and Communications Coordinator for the CBF. &#8220;The pollution entering the bay from Pennsylvania was magnified because of the volume of water that resulted from all the rain.As one of three primary states that contribute water to the Chesapeake Bay, Pennsylvania lagged far behind Virginia and Maryland in meeting annual goals to reduce pollution. The increased rainfall last year meant more pollution, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, from farm fields and urban landscapes. It also resulted in sediment runoff that made its way into the bay, disrupting water clarity.And no matter how far the bay is from a particular watershed, the impact isn&#8217;t negated by distance.Wyoming Valley&#8217;s impactThat includes the Wyoming Valley, which is home to a stretch of the Susquehanna River and numerous tributaries that all carry water to the bay.Dale Bruns, a professor at Wilkes University&#8217;s College of Science and Engineering who has conducted extensive research on aquatic ecology and watersheds, estimated the Wyoming Valley and surrounding areas contribute 10 to 20 percent of the water flowing into the bay.While the heavy agricultural areas in Lancaster County contribute a significant portion of the nitrogen and phosphorous contamination entering the bay, Bruns said the Wyoming Valley carries some of the blame as well.Those local pollution sources include acid mine drainage, CSOs (combined serer overflow, sediments and even nitrogen and phosphorous used to fertilize lawns in suburban areas, according to Bruns.And while the record rainfall may have diluted concentrations of contaminants entering the bay, Bruns agreed that the overall volume was significant.&#8220;With so many periods of rain, that meant a longer time for water to be in contact with soils. Those contaminants are picked up and carried down the river and tributaries to the bay,&#8221; Bruns said.&#8220;You go from running water to standing water in the bay, and the pollution can stay there for a longer time. And with every rain event, more pollution is added to the existing levels from previous events.&#8221;While water clarity, and nitrogen and phosphorus pollution were worse in 2018, the dissolved oxygen in the Bay actually improved last year, which benefits aquatic life.Pennsylvania&#8217;s roleStill, there is plenty of room for more improvement, and Pennsylvania is a key player.Small said more funding and resources need to be made available to assist farmers with the implementation of practices to reduce nutrient runoff and erosion.Locally, WVSA recently enacted a stormwater fee, impacting Luzerne County residents in 32 municipalities. The fee is based on the amount of impervious surfaces on a property, and it stems from the authority&#8217;s agreement to handle a federal Susquehanna River pollution reduction mandate that requires less sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus washed into the Chesapeake Bay over the next five years.Small said there are other municipalities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that have also enacted a similar fee.Still, the bigger problem when it comes to Pennsylvania&#8217;s impact on the Bay centers around agriculture.William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said more extreme weather events are expected in the future as a result of climate change. As Pennsylvania continues to fall short of its pollution reduction goals, Baker said it may be time for more involvement on the federal level.&#8220;Pennsylvania&#8217;s farmers are facing tough economic times and can&#8217;t implement the necessary practices on their own. The Commonwealth must join Maryland and Virginia to fund proven clean water initiatives to help farmers,&#8221; Baker said. &#8220;If the state legislature does not fund efforts to reduce pollution in its next session, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) must hold Pennsylvania accountable.&#8221;According to Bruns, the impact of agriculture on the bay may be over-scrutinized at times while contributors such as fertilizer runoff from lawns tends to be overlooked. Fertilizer applications on lawns aren&#8217;t regulated, he said. Combined with the impact of overflowing sewers during heavy rain events, Bruns said the Wyoming Valley does have an impact on the bay.A big step in the right direction is to raise local awareness about the bay, Bruns added.&#8220;There was a lot more awareness, and while I don&#8217;t think it necessarily has gone backwards, part of the issue is as you go down the river closer to the Bay the impacts are more easily seen due to agriculture,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Comparing that to the local impacts, people here may question why should we worry about the bay.&#8220;But cleaning up our local environment, which is damaged, is going to be good for the bay also. The two are not mutually exclusive.&#8221;<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_RIVER_WEB.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Susquehanna River at the Market Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_RIVER_WEB.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Susquehanna River at the Market Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Local impacts contribute to increased pollution in Chesapeake Bay</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom Veneskytvenesky@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div>