A TMDL
is required for any waterbody impaired by pollution, and establishes the maximum
amount of pollution a waterbody can receive.
The Bay TMDL limits the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment in
the Bay and its tributaries. These
pollutants come from a number of sources including agricultural operations,
poorly managed stormwater, and wastewater treatment facilities. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus feed algal
blooms that block sunlight to underwater grasses, destroying important habitat,
and the blooms use up oxygen when they die and decompose, resulting in dead
zones that kill fish, crabs, and other aquatic life.
Judge Rambo’s decision sent a clear message to
the six states in the Bay watershed -- they should continue working toward their
clean water goals -- goals that, after 30 years of insufficient bay restoration
efforts, might actually be met through the new, collaborative federal-state
effort.
Not too long after the decision, the deep-pocketed farm groups and developers appealed, and just last week, the attorneys general from 21 states, mostly from the Mississippi River valley and Midwest, but some from as far away as Alaska and Wyoming, filed a joint amicus curiae, or friend of the court brief, supporting the appeal and opposing the Bay states’ efforts to clean up local rivers and the Bay. These states fear that a successful TMDL in the Bay could serve as a model for clean-up efforts in their watersheds, and they just might have to control pollution -- and, ultimately, be stuck with clean water.
Jen Quinn is central Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture, based in Harrisburg. She specialized in water quality issues.
