WASHINGTON – The largest continuous watershed in the United States still faces pollution problems despite decades-old efforts to restore the region. Kim Coble of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, told a Senate panel that more action is needed to protect the Chesapeake from rain runoff.
“Just one inch of rain on one acre of hardened surface such as a highway produces 27,000 gallons of polluted runoff,” Coble said Tuesday before the Senate subcommittee on water and wildlife.
Coble called upon the committee to draft legislation that would enable creation of filtration systems along highways to cope with storm water. New regulations could create jobs as well as protect the environment.
The pollutants that enter the rainwater runoff from highways come from oil, chemicals left on pavement, animal feces, and dirt and sediment, Coble said.
The increase of phosphorus and nitrogen in the water system from runoff pollutants are detrimental to fish. Clouded water can clog gills. When algae blooms and then dies, drawing huge quantities of oxygen from the water.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about 30 percent of the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the Maryland part of the bay comes from storm water runoff.
Sen. Ben Cardin D-Md., who chaired the Environment and Public Works subcommittee hearing, said “Storm runoff is a major source of concern as it relates to water quality. The sheer volume is a concern.”
Cardin said water cannot pass through 17 percent of the Chesapeake region because of the buildup of pollutants.
The Chesapeake Bay watershed spans 64,000 square miles and includes land in six different states and the District of Columbia. It is about the size of England and is home to more than 17 million people.
“The Chesapeake Bay is an impaired waterway,” Coble said. “There is not one of that live in the watershed that is not part of the problem.”
Published in conjunction with 
<!--FREDERICK NEWS-POST BEGINS HERE--> <hr /> <p style="vertical-align: middle;">Published in conjunction with <a title="Frederick News-Post" href="http://www.fredericknewspost.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" style="vertical-align: middle;" alt="Frederick News Post Logo" src="https://dc.medill.northwestern.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/FrederickNewsPost_Logo.gif" /></a></p> <!--FREDERICK NEWS-POST ENDS HERE-->