Left unanswered is how local and Pennsylvania farms, sewage plants and housing developments will better capture runoff and purify treated sewage.

And who will pay for it.

The cost of stepped-up "nutrient'' cleanup in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, New York and Washington, D.C. is estimated to be $19 billion over the next seven years, the agreed-to deadline.

About 40 percent of the nitrogen and phosphorus tainting the bay annually comes from farms, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lancaster County is a big contributor of agricultural waste to the Susquehanna.

Another 30 percent of waste flowing into the bay comes from sewage treatment plants and about 30 percent from air pollution in the six states.

Farmers shouldn't bear the brunt of tougher cleanup efforts, says state Sen. Noah Wenger, one of Pennsylvania's members on the Chesapeake Bay Commission, which guides legislatures in the three main bay states on environmental issues.

"Sure, agriculture will have to continue to work to improve, but I don't think you can put it all on the ag community at this point because they've already done a lot of things,'' Wenger said.

Wenger said updating and retrofitting existing sewage plants may provide the biggest boost to reaching the new nutrient-reduction commitment. And he says runoff in cities and suburbs "is an issue we've never really addressed that well.''

Lancaster city is planning $6.3 million in improvements to its sewage plant that city officials boast will mean a nearly 1-million-pound annual reduction in the nutrient nitrogen going into the Conestoga, and thus the bay.

Some of the improvements are necessary to meet tougher state regulations, city officials have said.

Wenger says Pennsylvania's commitment to reduce nutrients by an additional 75 million pounds a year is "probably doable.'' But he cautions, "It has to be a cooperative effort. Finger pointing is not going to do the job.''

Pennsylvania was unable to meet an earlier reduction of nutrients by 2000.

Michael W. Brubaker, a Lititz agronomist who owns a consulting firm, says he's worried that more pressure will be unfairly put on the backs of the agricultural community.

He asserts Pennsylvania farmers were among the first in the nation to face controls on runoff on large-animal operations. And a new federal law governing concentrated livestock operations has just gone into effect.

A majority of Lancaster County's farmers have approved nutrient-management plans on their farms, even though most aren't required to, Brubaker says.

"Farmers are doing a lot,'' he says.

He also predicted new technological breakthroughs will help solve current environmental ills. For example, most farmers have eagerly switched to a feed with a new material that reduces phosphorus by 33 percent, he said.

Meeting in Falls Church, Va., Friday, the six states and D.C. that make up the Chesapeake Bay Program committed to reduce total nutrients by 40 percent from current levels by 2010.

The goals were reached after three years of scientific research into what needs to be done to realize a healthy bay.

Several environmental groups said the reductions were not enough.

Nutrients are actually vital to growth in the bay, but too much spurs algae blooms that deprive the water of oxygen and choke vital underwater grasses needed by the bay's variety of fish, crabs and oysters.

Despite 20 years of cleanup efforts by the states and federal government, the bay remains on the EPA's national list of dirty waters -- mostly because of excessive nutrients.

Officials say the more ambitious nutrient reductions will likely mean better controls on farms, upgraded sewage plants, as well as upgrading of storm drains on city streets and in suburban neighborhoods to catch pollutants.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection officials say grassroots watershed groups will be used heavily to help the state do its share in reducing runoff.

Since 1983, when the states began the bay cleanup, nitrogen has been reduced from 338 million tons annually to 285 million pounds.


blog comments powered by Disqus